A New Beginning

For several months now, I’d been considering giving my blog a complete face lift. Now I’ve done it. It’s a new look and a new name and while I love it, I’m still getting use to it. I imagine it will take some of my more loyal readers some time to get acquainted with the newness of it all as well. Change – even good change – is rarely easy.

In the past, I’d toyed with the idea of abandoning the Momopoly namesake because it always felt a little forced to me. Actually, this blog was originally called simply “Kate Wicker.” That seemed rather boring and dull (and maybe even a tad egotistical), so I decided to come up with something more clever and catchy. I brainstormed and came up with plethora of names that I thought were so creative. Then I started Googling. They were all taken and obviously not all that original since someone else had thought of them first and had also been blogging way before I even knew what a blog was. Momopoly was nowhere to be found though, and I liked the idea of the play on words. Motherhood, as an all-consuming enterprise, did sometimes seem to monopolize my life or at least nearly every ounce of my energy. And so Momopoly was born.

Then I wrote something called “Will Work for Children” that seemed to strike a chord with a lot of moms out there, so I decided to embrace it as my tag line.

I’m still attached to that tag line, and I’m still working for children. That’s my life. It’s what I do. It’s what I live. Yet, I write about other stuff, too, and I didn’t want to pigeon hole myself as “just” a mom blog when some of my posts dealt with body image issues that might minister to single women with no children while others talked about more universal themes of faith that might hold the attention of other seekers out there who might not be women or parents or people who are comfortable with the alarming alacrity and frequency in which I use the word “poop” in my more mom-oriented posts.

Consequently, with the new design, I was torn about what I should do with the “Momopoly” title. However, my fantastic designer and website guru (John of Kickstart Media, whom I highly recommend) helped me make the decision to drop it and to give my blog a name that was tied more to my writing (my actual byline).

He also encouraged me to put my photo out there, which was very difficult for me. In fact, we had several email exchanges where I continued to express my uncertainty about putting my photo in a prominent place. It felt ostentatious, and I also worried about how people judge so much by just looking at a photo, especially since I was writing a book on body image and achieving real beauty. My current professional head shot photo (which are courtesy of my very talented aunt of Kristine Walsh Photography) tells nothing of my past, what I looked like, or how uncomfortable in my own skin I’ve been throughout many phases of my life. I guess I’m saying all this to beg others not to judge. A picture, in my mind, is often not worth a thousand words, and it certainly tells very little of a person’s interior life – good or bad.

After being very patient with my myriad emails and doubt, John reminded me that I have a book coming out (as surreal as that still often is), so I – Kate Wicker – am now a brand. That feels really weird. It’s much easier to market something other than yourself or your writing, but marketing’s the name of the game in the writing world these days.

Hence, the new look, simple name, clean start, and photo of the woman behind the blog.

As for the content, I imagine it will remain about the same. I’ll still spend a lot of time writing about my faith, my children, motherhood, natural parenting, body image, and yes, you guessed it, bowel movements. I’ll sometimes showcase my ridiculously serious and introspective moods and in other posts, I’ll be downright silly. My prayer life (or lack thereof) will surface frequently. If I don’t find God in the quotidian details of life, then I’m going to have a hard time finding Him at all since a life living with littles is composed of small, ordinary things unfolding day in and day out. It’s my job to discover the extraordinary, the divine in it all.

I have added a few new features, however. I’m the most excited about The God Box. Think of this as a virtual way of praying and encouraging one another. Here I invite readers to share (anonymously or not) their hopes, petitions, prayers of thanksgiving, fears – anything that’s on their hearts and minds. Here we can lift friends and strangers alike up in prayer. We can share news stories that tug on our hearts and even possibly share links where we can donate to help others who have been thrown into the wreckage of natural disasters, sickness, and/or personal tragedy. Start sharing your prayers today! (I’ll be including my personal intentions there from time to time, too.)

You’ll also see a Weightless tab at the top. This is where I’ll include information about my book as well as links to resources related to eating disorders, body image, food addiction, etc. This tab, as well as many other pages on the new site, are still under construction, so please remain patient with me. I’m having to learn all the quirks of WordPress and design diva I am not, so the learning curve may be a little steep. We also have an extremely busy April and May ahead of us complete with recitals, choral performances, soccer games, my little brother’s wedding, and of course, the celebration of Easter.

As for your subscriptions, the feed is the same, so you should continue to receive emails and/or RSS updates in your chosen feed reader. If, for some reason, you find this isn’t the case, please drop me a line and I’ll see if I can help. Also, if you do happen to include Momopoly in your Blogroll, feel free to change it to boring, plain “Kate Wicker.” Or not. :-)

I also have to give a big shout out to Jennifer Fulwiler and Dorian Speed for their expertise. I am a complete HTML/design idiot, and I had to work out a lot of kinks when the site first launched, and they both were a big help to me. There are still some tweaks to be made. This new site is definitely yet another work in progress in my life. If you see something that bugs you or isn’t right, please do let me know.

I’m now celebrating four years of blogging, and this is as good as a time as ever to thank you, my faithful readers, for encouraging me as a wife, mom, writer, woman, and child of God. God bless you all, and thank you for reading, blessing, and lifting me up with your emails, comments, and kindness.

I look forward to continuing to share my mothering and faith journey with you all!