2012 Family Projects

My immediate family has Big Plans for 2012! All these plans are in full swing, and that's kept my from blogging, since I've been busy. I can't wait any longer to tell you of all the excitement!

My sister and brother-in-law are leaving TOMORROW (on a jet plane, don't know when they'll be back again... No. Really.) for Hong Kong, and a bazillion other places- for the better part of the entire year! Here's their loose plan:


 What are they doing? They quit their jobs last month, moved out of their downtown Chicago apartment, and they're spending the next 11 months traveling the world, seeing what they can, and experiencing it all firsthand. I can't wait to follow along on Twitter, Facebook, and their blog.

 Wait, did I say follow along on Facebook? I did. I joined Facebook last month! More on that in a minute.

My dad is going on another type of journey- he's reading through a thought-provoking list of books and doing some serious soul searching. Also, he's blogging his journey (and he joined Facebook too!) I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I invited you over there to join in the discussion with him- he's one of the wisest people I know, so I'm enjoying his insights.

And, then as for us... we've been busy with a new project for 2012 and beyond, too. We bought a business! The local cloth diaper store, Toasty Baby, was put up for sale a few months ago, and after much deliberation, we decided to take the plunge and become business owners. Josh is running the day-to-day stuff and will be manning the store during daytime hours (starting tomorrow!) and I make cameo appearances to teach the Cloth Diaper 101 classes to parents considering cloth diapers.

I've been trying to create social media "buzz" around the business the best I can manage, and, in addition to the Twitter account and the blog, part of that effort includes updating the business' Facebook page. I hemmed and hawed and finally joined Facebook! Since I'm there, I decided to go all out. Feel free to friend me, and I'll probably friend you back, unless I totally don't know you and your profile picture looks creepy :)

With this business, we've had to learn so much, and are still learning. Keeping everything straight isn't easy, but we're trying! Getting thrown in to it all was (and is) a bit overwhelming, but definitely exciting. When we've gotten a chance to talk to customers about cloth diapering, it's all been worth it. That part is really fun!

Also, if you need any cloth diapers, or make any kid or parenting related product, or have an idea for a natural-parenting-related product we should stock or class we should host, send it my way. I need all the help & ideas I can get!