This past Saturday I did something that, due to my anxiety, I could have never done just 3 or 4 months ago. I attended a local pre-BlogHer meet-up at The Cup in Boulder. I was hoping a friend or two would be able to go with me (for the company, as well as to calm my nerves and make sure I went!), but no one was available. Still, I was feeling good about it and excited at the opportunity to meet some more local bloggers. But then I almost didn’t go – not because I had a good excuse or something came up, but because apparently I was more nervous about going than I thought and nearly used the excuse of Julian needing to go down for a nap to prevent me from stepping foot outside my front door. As it was, I arrived almost an hour late and didn’t get a chance to meet even half of all of the women there, but the important part is that I made myself step outside of my comfort zone and I went. I knew that if I didn’t go, it would make going to BlogHer next month all the more anxiety producing.

I was thrilled to see some familiar faces like Tall Tara and Crazy Blogging Canuck (Amber) (both whom I met at the Rocky Mountain Blogger Bash back in August of last year), and was glad to put a real live face to a name for peeps like Eat Play Love (Denise), The Casual Perfectionist (JoAnn), Gwen Bell (the organizer of the event), Weebles Wobblog (Lori), and This Mama Cooks (Anne-Marie). I also had the opportunity to meet some new names and faces like Human Being Blog (Lynn), Tales of my Thirties (Rachel), and Bread Crumz (Holly). There were many more women there who I didn’t get the pleasure of meeting, but you can meet them all via the YouTube video below thanks to the wonderful Holly.

Despite usually having a camera in hand, I forgot mine at home this time so I don’t have any pics of my own, but a few of me (pics #13 & 15 – I’m in the green shirt) have surfaced around the ‘net (thank you, Use Real Butter (Jen) for proof that I really did go!). ;)

I might have some apprehension about going to these types of events, but I’m always happy I went once it’s over. Thank you again to the amazing Gwen for organizing.

It’s true that I often feel like this:

But thanks to the pre-BlogHer meet-up, maybe I’ll be courageous enough to move out of the corner every now and then. ;) I look forward to seeing all of you lovely ladies again at BlogHer (one month from today – squeee!) and meeting many more too. :)

Here’s the video (thanks, Holly):

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Today was our first official snowy day of the season (with more than a dusting of snow I mean) and since the kids finally have new boots (that fit!), they were able to go out and play in it. I don’t mind the snow much myself (I rather enjoy shoveling. Shhh. Don’t tell Jody that.), but the 23 degrees for a high is a little too cold for my comfort. Not theirs though. They didn’t mind at all. :)

FYI: my blog was down for several hours last night and into the morning and, as a result of several restores, there may be some “Hello, World!” posts showing up in your feed reader today.  Please disregard them. I’m going to be switching hosts in the near future (bye-bye BlueHost). Don’t want to have to deal with what I went through this morning ever again. 

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Tomorrow morning is day 1 of our two-week vacation to Michigan. For the most part we’ll be staying with my parents in Oscoda which is very near the Au Sable River and Lake Huron (yes, we’ll be doing plenty of swimming), but we’re also taking a few days to go to Mackinac Island (pronounced Mack-ih-naw) where we’ll stay at Mission Point Resort. (Those of you who’ve seen the movie “Somewhere in Time” with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour may remember that the movie took place primarily at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.) I spent a week every summer on the Island from sixth to twelfth grade as part of the Mackinac Island Scout Service Camp (yes, I was a Girl Scout through high school), and have so many fond memories of that place. I took Jody there several years ago and now I hope to share the experience with my children as well. We plan to leave the touristy parts of the island behind for the most part and instead go off on bikes (since no cars are allowed there – only bikes and horses) and explore some of the more hidden, but beautiful and scenic areas. I hope to have the opportunity to take a lot of pictures. If I was independently wealthy, I swear we’d spend a few weeks there every summer in one of the amazing Victorian houses. I’m so looking forward to the trip. :)

OK, calm down Amy. Whew! Got a little carried away there for a moment and could almost hear the clip-clop of the horses’ hooves and smell the sweet aroma of fudge in the air.

Ahem. Anyway, although I personally will be blogging very little while I am gone (if you really want to know what’s going on while I’m away, follow me on Twitter), there will still be plenty of great content to read here at Crunchy Domestic Goddess. I have 17 guest bloggers with posts on topics like CSAs, eating healthy on a budget, parenting, , birth, feminism, photography tips, gardening, ‘poo-free hair, breastfeeding, organic food on the road, and MORE lined up to fill the void. Seriously, there are some great posts headed your way by a variety of very talented bloggers. I’m so happy to feature them here and I thank you in advance for extending the same courtesy and respect to them in your comments that you do to me. I hope you may even find some new blogs to read as a result of this (just as long as you don’t stop reading mine /cue nervous laughter/).

And now, after spending two hours today with the kids “killing time” in Target after discovering an unexpected flat tire this afternoon (I’m so thankful it happened today and not tomorrow and that we have 4 new tires on our car now), I need to kick it in gear and pack like mad. Next time you hear from me, I’ll be in Michigan. Ciao!

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I’m excited to tell you about a new green blog in town. 5 Minutes for Going Green, a sister site of 5 Minutes for Mom and managed by the amazing Arianne, launched last week!

Going green is not a destination–it’s a journey. Together we can do a little bit each day to sustain our planet and clean up our lives, because even a small change can make a big difference. Our world is a gift, and taking care of it can be fun, fulfilling and easier than ever. No matter where you are at in life, or in this journey, green looks good on everyone.

I’m honored to be one of the monthly contributors and involved with this group of talented, passionate bloggers.

The 5MFGG team consists of:
Coming Up for Air
Crunchy Domestic Goddess
Crunchy Chicken
Green and Clean Mom
Green Mamma
Healthy Green Moms
Kerrianne.org
Little Green Secrets
mod*mom
Nature Moms
Surely You Nest
The EcoChic Organizer
The Green Parent
The Smart Mama
To Think Is To Create

I hope to see you over there! :)

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Edited to add: I’ve received more responses than I thought I would and will have no problem filling two weeks’ worth of vacation. So thank you all for your replies, but I’m not going to be accepting any more guest bloggers at this time (though I may do this again in the future). I will be getting in touch with everyone who emailed me to let them know if/when I can use their post. Thank you!

The fam and I are going on vacation for two weeks at the end of July/beginning of August and rather than try to kill myself blogging in advance or committing to blogging while on holiday, I’m asking for guest bloggers to help fill the void. If you blog about topics that you think would be of interest to readers of my blog – attachment parenting, birth activism, maternal health, natural family living, green living, gardening, environmentalism, feminism, photography, etc. – now is a great chance to get your blog a bit of exposure. :) I receive about 18,000 page impressions per month and have over 500 Feedburner subscribers, so I think you stand a good chance of picking up some new readers.

If you are interested in being considered for a guest blogging spot here on Crunchy Domestic Goddess, send me an email – amygeekgrl AT gmail DOT com with “Guest blogger” in the subject line – with a link to your blog (and send me a brief intro too if I’m not familiar with you or your blog). If you know what you’d like to post about (it can be an old post of yours if you prefer), please let me know that too and I’ll get back to you in a week or two to let you know if/when I will need your post. I’ve never done this before so I have no idea what kind of response I will get, but I’m excited to give it a go.

Thank you. :)

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Hey mamas! There’s a new blog in town and I think you should check it out. API Speaks – The voice for gentle parents everywhere launched last week with it’s inaugural post and has been turning out excellent content ever since.

API Speaks is written by a group of very talented people who all have one thing in common – they practice Attachment Parenting and will be discussing their personal experiences and journeys in AP on the blog. You might notice some familiar bloggers’ faces/names there and discover some new ones as well. More names will be added to the contributor list in the weeks ahead.

My first post (an oldie, but a goodie) about why we choose to have a home birth was posted there yesterday. Some other recent posts include It Takes a Village by Half Pint Pixie and Spare the crib, spoil thyself by Law and Motherhood.

Julie Artz and I, the contributing editors there, are quite proud of the blog and, in addition to great content by our wonderful contributors, have some exciting things planned for it including giveaways of AP-related merchandise, so we hope you still stop in often. :)

Hope to see you there! :) And if you haven’t yet visited API’s newly redesigned web site or checked out their new online support forums, I encourage you to stop by those as well.

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