The Guys Behind the Blog // January

I can't believe it's time for another Guys Behind the Blog!
This month, we went with a blogger classic:  the currently post!

Here's what AJ had to say on January's questions:
Watching: Team Treehouse courses! 

Reading: The email that Betsy sent me asking me to do Guys Behind the Blog

Listening to: Mutemath “Monument”

Dreaming of: Buying a new computer .. Because Mine just froze and I had to retype all of this… 

Eating: Chili I made last night! 

Learning: PHP development… Cuz Geek 

Wishing: See “Dreaming” 

Obsessed with: Our dog. Betsy says I’m a dog dad now… I don’t know if I like it. 

Loving: How the snow makes it really bright where I’m sitting right now

Planning: A new website I’m working on! 

February’s Questions
1. This year is Leap Year — what are you going to do to celebrate?
2. If you could create an obscure holiday, what would it be and why?
3. Have you seen the movie Leap Year? If not, tell us about another romantic comedy you have seen.
4. Tradition has it that women are supposed to propose to their men on leap day. Would you (or did you) say yes if your girl popped the question?
5. If you had to have a special event take place on leap day, what would it be (ex: wedding, birthday, birth of your child, etc)?

Oooh...and I have some exciting news!  Crystal, over at Hall Around Texas, has teamed up with a few other bloggers to bring you a new link-up:  the Kids Behind the Blog!  Check out Crystal's Guys Behind the Blog post for more info!  

We would love to have you and your guy join us this month! The link-up will be open through Friday, February 5th. Leave your link below and visit other participating blogs to make new friends and spread the love. Our next edition of The Guys Behind the Blog will go live on Thursday, February 25th!

Link up below!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Sincerely Box

I received this product free of charge from Sincerely Box in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own. 

If you've been around the blog for a little while, you know that I love snail mail.  Like, love.  I once sent AJ 14 letters (1 per day) leading up to Valentine's Day when he was living in Boston.  I have an entire box of cards and postcards in my desk and I literally didn't even have to buy or repeat a card when I did it, either.  My love of stationary and mail runs deep, friends. 

I think there's just something nostalgic and extra special about receiving a letter in the mail.  The fact that someone took the time to write a note and put it in the mail just has a personal touch and makes you feel really cared for when you find it in your mailbox.  It's as much fun to send as it is to get it.  I get giddy any time I drop a note in the mail! 

Haley and her team at Sincerely Box have created a box subscription that is the heartbeat of any snail mail lover.  I was lucky enough to get my hands on one of their December boxes and it was so stinking cute!  Each box comes with 4 cards and 4 themed stamps (December featured those cute Charlie Brown stamps!) and shows up at your doorstep for just $24.  The cards are all sourced from small designers, so chances are, whoever the lucky recipients of your cards are will have never seen them before!  

My favorite card in the December box said "I love you more than a white girl loves hot seasonal beverages" on the cover.  Can I get an amen?  So cute!  January's boxes are already sold out, but you can still get your hands on a February box here!

I've also teamed up with Sincerely Box to giveaway one box to a lucky follower!  Check out my instagram for details and to enter!

I LOVE sending snail mail and the new Sincerely Box is my dream come true! I’ve teamed up with Sincerely Box to giveaway a box!  That’s 4 fun, pretty cards and stamps delivered right to your doorstep. Wanna win?  Here’s how: + Like this photo + Follow @betsyfick and @sincerelybox + Comment on this post and tag a friend who you think would be interested for extra entries.  One comment per friend, no limit! Good luck! ________________________________ Not redeemable for cash. No purchase necessary. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. This #sweepstakes will start on 1/18/16 at 8:45 PM EST and end on 1/22/16 at 8:45 PM EST. Winner will be randomly chosen and announced within 48 hours after #giveaway is closed. We ask that PRIVATE accounts be made PUBLIC during the giveaway in order to be verified or considered. Fake or Giveaway-Only accounts will be disqualified. Open to U.S. Residents Only. We release of Instagram by each entrant or participant. We acknowledge that this promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Instagram. By entering, entrants confirm that they are 13+ years of age, release us from any and all responsibility, and are adhering to Instagram’s terms of use.

A photo posted by Betsy (Gettis) Fick (@betsyfick) on Jan 18, 2020 at 5:50pm PST

Guys Behind the Blog...January Questions

I know that some of you have been wondering what Laura and I decided for our January Guys Behind the Blog prompts.  To be completely transparent with you, we didn't know until about two days ago!  But we've come up with a theme that we think the quieter guys will love because it requires just one-word answers at the least!

For January, we'll be doing a "Currently" post with our guys!  Plenty of bloggers do these posts to talk about what they're currently loving, feeling, etc. and we thought it would be fun to get our guys in on this blogger staple.

Here are your (ten) prompts for this month (I'm thinking I might subject AJ to a rapid-fire round!):

What is your guy currently:

Watching

Reading

Listening to

Dreaming of

Eating

Learning

Wishing

Obsessed with

Loving

Planning

The link-up goes live on January 28th...join us, won't you?

2016.

How, and when, did we get here?  To January?

I can't believe that it's been as long as it has since I've last written.  It literally feels like AJ and I were working on his Guys Behind the Blog installment for December just yesterday, and yet so much has happened since then.  So, welcome to 2016!

I'd like to start off the year by giving my heartfelt thanks for all of your faithful readership of this blog.  In 2015, Heavens to Betsy saw growth like never before...growth in the number of people reading, growth in income, and growth in myself as a writer, photographer, and business owner.  A lot of that is because of you!  Without readers who actually care about what I'm writing, this space wouldn't be nearly as dear to my heart.  I've said it before and I'll say it again, community is my favorite aspect of blogging and it's been great getting to know so many of you in 2015!

Now, let's look ahead!  You've probably noticed that I've become less frequent on the blog these days.  For so long, I was consistently blogging 5-6 days per week.  I had the time to do it, AJ was in Boston, and I was really inspired.  Lately, life has gotten in the way a bit.  I've been struggling with trying to decide what I want to do with this space in the new year...should I push myself back to blogging daily?  Do I loosen the reigns a bit?  I've come to the conclusion that so often, we as bloggers put all these rules on ourselves for how often we need to blog, promote, tweet, post, etc.  And frankly, the push to blog daily has left me feeling so guilty and unmotivated lately.  In the past four months, I've adjusted to marriage, I've helped care for my dad who's been in some valleys in his fight with cancer, AJ and I have poured time and money into growing our photography and design business, and I've moved into my position at GT full time, meaning that I now have a few less hours a week to blog.  (which is evidenced by the fact that I'm posting a new year post on January 5th)

So moving forward, I'm going to try to be more consistent in this space, but I'm done putting rules on myself for how and when I will write.  I don't want to publish content just for the sake of publishing content, and let's be honest:  you don't want to read that stuff anyway.  I will continue to work with brands on sponsored posts. (A note about sponsored content:  I only work with brands and products that I really do believe in and I work really hard to weave those posts as seamlessly as possible into the fabric of Heavens to Betsy.  It's my goal that if you didn't read a disclosure statement, then you wouldn't know the content was sponsored.  Sometimes I'm better than that than at other times, but that's my heart behind working with brands.)

I hope you'll stick around for this next year.  I'm excited about where we're headed, and I'm starting to feel more inspired to get back to this space more regularly.  Cheers to the new year!