SO much to discuss today…
Right now, I’m trying to get organized.
I recently switched to WordPress {which I will blog about later} and am trying to get my site back in order. It takes a lot of time, so please be patient with me as I try to go back and re-size images and do all that jazz. 
I’m also trying to get my house and life in order.
If you could see my craft room right now you would die… like seriously. It’s bad! I can barely step in there. SO pathetic, I know. And you should see the stack of papers strewn across my closet floor as they sit and wait patiently to be organized and filed into the file cabinet. And my poor kids… their rooms have nothing on the wall {we moved here 7 months ago} and if you know me, you know that’s very un-Kristyn to have blank walls. Long story short – I have lots of organizing that needs to be done here at the Merkley home.
Organizing my home AND the blog along with wanting to be better at making dinners, wanting to lose my baby weight {still have 15 pounds to go – yikes!!}, wanting to do more fun stuff with the kiddos, wanting to be a better visiting teacher and scripture reader, etc, etc, ETC, is NOT EASY. To be honest, I’m kinda feeling like my priorities are a little out of whack, and with that in mind, I have made a few new goals and am SUPER excited to get crackin’ on them in 2012.
Here are some of the GOALS and MY COMMITMENT to you guys this year for Lil’ Luna:
*I will try hard to come up with fun, unique and expensive crafts, ideas and tutorials that I hope you will LOVE!
*Link Parties will go up every Tuesday at 5PM.
*Instead of having posts on certain days, I’m going to be a little more random and post when I have something good instead of trying to hurry and come up with something just because it’s Tutorial Tuesday. I want to have more quality posts and if that means there are 3 or 13 posts that week, just know I’ve put a lot of time into making it something I think you’ll like. I will still try to have at least one recipe and one craft, print or idea from ME each week. 
*I will try to answer all emails, but give me a few days. I get quite a few and it’s hard to answer all of them right away.
*I’m going to post more about me and my family {since they are my #1 Priority}. After getting so busy with this blog, my family blog has been non-existent and although I’m sure you don’t want to see pics of my kids every day, I do want you to see that I’m a regular, imperfect mom who spends most the day in her PJs with no bra on hanging out with my kiddos. People tend to think I am always baking cookies for my neighbors in my clean and beautiful home with my perfect family, but that’s not the case. I don’t want anyone thinking less of themself because of what they see in the Blog World {and more important here on Lil’ Luna} because if you really knew the truth, you’d know that most of us had to clear out a pile of toys and laundry to take the picture of our latest creations.
*I rarely answer emails or post on Sunday. I’m grateful that Sunday is a day of rest and I’m trying to take advantage of that.
*I will continue to make Lil’ Luna a place that you can come to to find fun and original ideas {all things good} for any all occassions.
{How could these guys NOT be my #1 Priority – they are too cute!!}
2012
With those goals in mind and trying to make sure that my family is my first priority, I am also wanting to expand Lil’ Luna and am looking for CONTRIBUTORS! There are so many creative people in the world and I would love for YOU to be a part of the team!
WHAT YOU’LL GET:
Along with Side bar advertising with your logo and promotions through Twitter and Facebook, I will also have a CONTRIBUTORS PAGE with a short bio about you as well as all of your social media links. This will be a great way to get more traffic!!
WHAT I’M LOOKING FOR:
Right now I am looking for 5-10 contributors who will guest post on Mondays with NEW material once every two months. I currently get over 150,000 pageviews a month, had over 1.5 million hits last year and have over 4,300 Facebook Fans.
Looking for people in all areas (DIY, Crafts, Recipes and MORE!) and would love to see what you got.
If you are interested, please fill out this form below:
Please fill out the form by Noon on Friday, the 13th.
I will inform those who applied by the 20th.
And one more thing….
Rumor has it that Google will be dropping Google Friend Connect from Non-Blogger Blogs. Yup, all my hardwork of attaining followers the last year and a half will go down the drain. It’s a little frustrating, so I’m asking that you now subscribe to my feeds via Feedburner. Please help a sister out and go subscribe HERE. Not sure when Google will be dropping GFC, but I’d hate to lose my follower just because I am now on WordPress. 
Questions? Comments? Just let me know, and thank you in advance.
YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST, and Lil’ Luna would be nothing without you guys!
Stay tuned later today for an LDS Young Womens craft…
Taking time to re-evaluate and simplify things is a great idea, seems to be a blogger theme this year. Your family IS the most important! That being said I had no idea you had that many viewers! Congrats girl! You are up there with the big dogs! Hope that 2012 is the best year ever for you!
Kristyn I love the new goals and commitments! Thanks for being so real and letting us know how life is the same for you as it is for me. Being a stay at home mom is tough but rewarding. And it can get intimidating to see all the creativity that is out there and wonder how anyone can do it all. This year I am trying to work on being less selfish with my time and spending more of it with my kids, doing crafts or letting them help me cook or even do the housework! (how generous of me!
I’m not going to worry about doing it all and, like you, making my family my #1 priority! I hope you have a great New Year and that everything you hope for, you are able to achieve!
Hey Kristyn! It’s been a while since I’ve said hi! This is a great post, and I’m excited for your new goals. Sounds a lot like my house at the moment
I just filled out an application. I love that it would be every 2 months, that seems very doable! I signed up for sewing, but would also like to be considered for kid crafts and recipes. I’m really looking foward to meeting you in a few months!
Yay! Thanks, Rach! Can’t wait to check it out, and definitely can’t wait to meet in April! It’s gonna be so fun!
Hi Kristyn,
I would love to be one of your contributors. I am a girl that LOVES food and LOVES to blog about all of the amazing recipes that I make. I am also slightly obsessed with Oprah and a recipe hoarder…. Just sayin’…..
I have filled out your form and hope to hear from you soon. Here is to a new year of accomplishing all of our resolutions!!!
Hugs,
Heather
Thanks for applying! Can’t wait to check out your site!! I already know I’ll like you cuz you like food, and those who love food are usually the best people!
XO
Honestly, we were just talking about this, right? I’m glad you are going to take some time for you and your kids. So important.
Good to see you today!
Honestly, we were just talking about this, right? I’m glad you are going to take some time for you and your kids. So important.
Good to see you today!
Thx, girl! It was great seeing you, btw! XO
Love the honesty.
It definitely is hard not to feel inadequate when seeing “perfection” from many bloggers. 
(Certainly not what any blogger wants, I’m sure, it just naturally happens.)
Thanks for sharing all that. I too need to make some adjustments to my priorities and get better at most the same things you mentioned.
Krysten,
You are amazing! I look forward to your new changes… “Family is EVERYTHING!” ( umm… yeah, I’m so glad that I’m not the only bra-less Mom in my PJ’s with a super messy craft room!) Gotta love it!
Thanks, girl!! You are so kind. Just trying to keep it real, even if it means without a bra! LOL! XO