A Gutsy Girl

Heal your gut. Heal your life.

mompreneur

New Spaces

Filed Under: 101 Days of Blogging, Inspire, Love, Mompreneur, Our Home, Wellness Tagged With: , , ,

It’s been several months of new spaces for us, and yesterday I entered yet another.

Back in January via my delish 3-Ingredient Chocolate Peanut Butter Shake recipe, I shared that I was looking for an office studio space. I mentioned,

So today, and last week, and every single day until I find it…..I am officially looking for office studio space – a working environment away from the home where I’m able to have a better balance of “work” time then “home” time because it’s something I have not had for years.

Recently, I shared that I had found my space, but that I wasn’t ready to share it quite yet.

I’m glad I chose to wait because the spot I had picked out ended up not completely working out. Not “completely” because it’s not the spot I wanted, but I’m still working with the same owner, and that was also kind of important to me.

Anyways, my original spot was one large open room. It needed work and a lot of clutter removal. I was totally cool with it, though, because the space itself came with charm.

It didn’t work out, and that’s probably okay because the new office studio space I got is much bigger, perfectly clean and ready to move into (today!), and has everything I’ll need for all pieces to my business (clients, photography, styling, other content creation, designing, copy, and then, of course, this blog + the very limited health coaching I still do, and Beautycounter).

New Spaces

Yesterday I got the keys to the new place. It’s a 2 bedroom apartment, complete with a full kitchen and bathroom, and it even has a dishwasher, which I find to be hilarious because our rental house doesn’t even have that.

I went yesterday just to stand in the apartment and soak up my vision for what I want to do with it, and how I want to fully utilize the full space (if I’m paying for it, might as well use all of it).

It’s hard to imagine if you’re not there, but these pictures give a rough idea of what the place looks empty.

Here is what I’m going to do with it:

  1. The living room: Photography. I love shooting in natural light, and the large window will accommodate that perfectly. That said, because there is just one large window in the room, I can black it out if needed, once I get the appropriate tools to shoot in setups other than natural lighting. A simple table and my shooting gear will live here.  New Spaces www.sarahkayhoffman.com Living Room
  2. The kitchen: Recipe development, cooking, baking, clean up. I don’t know how I ever thought I might be able to do without a kitchen at my fingertips. The ease of making something and walking 15 steps to shoot it will be priceless. Also, all that cupboard storage for the multiple food shipments I receive on a monthly basis. You can never have enough kitchen space. New Spaces www.sarahkayhoffman.com Kitchen
  3. Bedroom 1: Props storage. When looking for a place, this was one of the things I was most concerned about. In California, all my props lived in several bins on a huge rack we had in the garage. Over the years I’ve collected so many props, and I use them constantly. It was a pain in California, though, because I’d have to gather from outside, bring in to our house, and then return outside again at the end of the day (even if I had more to do the following day). Again, my props will live 15 steps away from where I’ll shoot. My goal is to have all props organized for super easy pulling, depending on the shoot needs. Also, now I can buy more, and I have a vision for that, too 🙂  New Spaces www.sarahkayhoffman.com Bedroom 1
  4. Bedroom 2: My office. Yes, my own room and own office. Do you remember seeing this farm table in the kid’s playroom?  My Favorites Issue 4 sarahkayhoffman.com Samarah, Isaiah, Amiya I might try to make this my office desk. I always knew that once we moved from California, I’d take it for myself, but I wasn’t sure how. I’m hoping it works as my desk. My office will have all the things I need for day-to-day business like an office would have. New Spaces www.sarahkayhoffman.com Bedroom 2

There is this little space in the kitchen for a small table. I’m going to get a table of sorts for this space. Why? Because it can be dual-acting: prepared food extras (for when I need to grab ‘n go for styling) and also for when I want to invite someone over for coffee or lunch. Seriously. It’s going to be quiet in there (which is what I’ve needed), but my plan is to make it cute, cozy, and invite-able.  New Spaces www.sarahkayhoffman.com Kitchen table area

I am creative, but when new spaces feel cozy and charming, I’m inspired and the creativity runs wild.

Basic. Like any other 2 bedroom apartment in rural Minnesota. 

But I finally have a space that’s all mine to separate work and home (and produce, produce, produce!), and I could not be more excited about new spaces. Once it’s all set up (at least structurally, I’m guessing it will constantly be a work in progress), I’ll share what it looks like.

p.s. via a private Studio Spaces Pinterest board, I’ve been saving some ideas, but I’d love yours, too! Do you have your own office space? Where did you find the stuff for it? I’m craving a big, beautiful color wheel, for starters.

p.s.s. Speaking of new spaces, moving into our “new” house is getting closer and closer. I can’t wait to share it with you! In the meantime, I keep adding new ideas to two Pinterest boards you might enjoy: Our New House (I started this one a long time ago, but the recent pins are most relevant) + Kid Rooms (Why do I have only one board for all 3 of our kids? Because I’m not doing any woo-woo “themed” rooms i.e. princesses. I want all their rooms to be a classic, classy, mostly neutral and clean look.)

Xox,
SKH

If you don’t have time to read these posts daily, but don’t want to miss them, be sure to follow via Bloglovin’ and/or join my personal e-newsletter HERE. I am doing my best to send a once per week email recap of prior week’s posts.

These posts will all live under “Wellness+Lifestyle” and also tagged with “101 Days of Blogging.” The 101-day series runs from Monday, January 8, 2018, through Wednesday, April 18, 2018.

If there is a topic surrounding change that you would love for me to include in this series, please just CONTACT ME.

Previous 101-Day Change Series Posts

  1. Beginnings are Scary
  2. Change Pain Point
  3. Making Sense of Change
  4. Gratitude Journal
  5. Love Your Baby Girl
  6. Little Things Add Up
  7. House and Home
  8. Sunday Reflections
  9. Two
  10. Chocolate Shake
  11. 3-Ingredient Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Shake
  12. Chaos is a Temporary State
  13. Thirsty Thursday
  14. Month One
  15. The Nudge to Connect
  16. 11 Favorites from 11 Years in California
  17. One Box at a Time
  18. Good Enough is Enough
  19. There is No Dishwasher
  20. WWDW Number 8
  21. Move Initiated
  22. Sharing My Journey
  23. Back with the Tribe
  24. Small Town Grocery Shopping Part One
  25. January 2018 Catch Up Over Bone Broth
  26. Patsy Clairmont is My Spirit Animal
  27. Let There Be Light
  28. Forgot About Rae
  29. Smiles
  30. Coconut Oil Makeup Remover How To
  31. 9 Ways to Embrace Winter
  32. Escaping People
  33. Coming Home
  34. 105 in 1,095
  35. 40 Before 40
  36. When Change Was Coming
  37. Behavior Correction
  38. Embracing Motherhood
  39. Two Things for Lent
  40. Gluten Free Recipe Roundup Six
  41. Breakdown to Breakthrough
  42. 18 Things About Me
  43. Still Hope
  44. Month Two
  45. Pain is Not Weakness Leaving the Body
  46. Too Much Stuff
  47. Small Changes
  48. Can Wait
  49. Seven
  50. Halfway Mark
  51. Squad Goals
  52. Do We Really Change?
  53. February Catch Up Over Bone Broth
  54. Unplanned
  55. 2018 Natural Products Expo West

2018 Blog Goals

Filed Under: General, Inspire, Love, Mompreneur, Wellness Tagged With: , , , ,

The 2018 blog goals post is the last of the end-of-year/beginning-of-year posts. But this is one you helped write. 

Seriously….thank you to everyone who filled out the 2017 Reader Survey! Here are all the things you told me, and all the things I learned:

2018 Blog Goals via sarahkayhoffman.com lifestyle blogger healthy life

  • What topic(s) do you enjoy reading about most on sarahkayhoffman.com? The top 3+ were:
    1. Gut Health and Healing
    2. General Wellness
    3. Adoption
    4. Following close behind were: everyday life, fitness and workouts, and safer skincare  Cleaning Out the Gut Part I GAPS vs AIP vs SCD GAPS Diet sarahkayhoffman.com Gut Healing Protocols
  • What NEW topics would you like to see? Various responses included: Chronic Illness / Autoimmune, Fitness, More gut-related blog posts, but recipe blog posts and more blog posts related to what “I’m loving lately,” or what ” I’m eating lately,” Do you Garden?, Hormones, Business, More on foster care process and tips, More specific diet recipes (AIP, low FODMAP, etc), how your habits change once your stomach issues are in control and are able to keep them in control, Journaling, How do you do a process of food elimination to find out what ails your body?, Healthy family recipes, Anything health and hormone healing!, product reviews, work-life balance, Safer cleaning products, Safer cookwear, and Life after foster care.  How to Build the Best Paleo Smoothie Bowl sarahkayhoffman.com Low FODMAP SIBO
  • Would you enjoy a series on 101-days of change? 95% of you said, “Yes.”
  • What EXISTING topics would you like to see more of? Various responses included: Everyday…How you have so much energy, Faith, Adventures with kids, Home, adoption, raising kids, Natural supplements/ideas for daily detox lifestyle, Food, recipes, snapshots, More info on what owning your own online business is like, Low FODMAP combined with egg-free recipes, Family and parenting, How you manage life, true ways you struggle as a foster mom and how you overcome, Gut health and healing, low fodmap meals :), Feeding kids!, Recipes, homemade products, Fitness, food, topics on eating better for your gut, Workouts, everyday recipes – quick and easy, gut healing without taking drugs, Hormones, General Wellness, Gluten and dairy free recipe ideas, foster adoption, Raising multiple children, SIBO, Everyday life with kids, and skincare.  Things You Don't Think About sarahkayhoffman.com Foster Adoption Adopt
  • Do you enjoy recipes? 93% of you said, “Yes.”
  • If you enjoy recipes, what kind of recipes are you most interested in for 2018? The top 3+ were:
    1. Paleo
    2. Low-FODMAP
    3. Gluten Free
    4. Following close behind were: Instant Pot, Whole30, Vegetarian/Vegan, and sugar-free  Paleoish Pad Thai with Creamy Cilantro Sauce sarahkayhoffman.com
  • Are you interested in workout-related posts? If so, what types of information/content as it relates to workouts and fitness? Various responses included: General workout plans/safe workouts for joint health, etc., What is working vs. what didn’t for you, Workout plans (right touch mix of cardio/strength/yoga) to maintain proper cortisol, etc., Working out while managing IBS, Strength Training, Gut health & working out when you have tummy conditions, What are some of the workouts you do or other plans you follow? I know you just did a post on one of the plans, but do you use any others or watch youtube channels or anything like that?, Weight workouts are always great, Workout routines/schedules, Yoga, Balancing fitness/family life, Balancing cardio and strength, I am interested in workouts for people with limitations; such as, bad knees/back areas, Getting and staying motivated, Getting the most out of short workouts, WOD and form cues, Sample workouts from time to time; fitness trends and related products…., Quick workouts for new moms, How YOU workout and how to workout while healing adrenal fatigue, Cardio alternatives, Apartment-friendly workouts, The balance between balancing hormones and staying fit, Ways to get started working out in a consistent way that doesn’t get me discouraged too quickly, How did you build up to your fitness level? For those of us still sick and starting out.  Healing SIBO for Good - Volume 1 sarahkayhoffman.com Workouts

So, with that, here are my 2018 blog goals.

2018 Blog Goals  2018 Blog Goals via sarahkayhoffman.com Lifestyle blogger

  1. New E-Books. There are so many e-books I’d love to produce, but for this year I am only focused on getting two released: The Gutsy Girl’s Bible: an approach to healing the gut 3.0 and How to Make Bone Broth in the Instant Pot.
  2. Broken Links. I began doing this some in 2016 and continued doing it in 2017, but the project is still not complete because there are so many posts on my blog at this point. To date, I have published 1,546 posts, and yet there are about 500 of those that are still not on good terms with Google. My goal is to continue working on them in order to finish up the project.
  3. 101 Days of Blogging. The last time I did this challenge was in 2015 towards the end of the year. My intentions were good in wanting to do it in 2016 and 2017, but it never happened. The timing was never right, and I never felt like I had a good topic/theme for a 101-day series. But now I do. Now I definitely do. Change. It’s something I’m experiencing hardcore, and I’d guess you are, too, since 95% of you said you’d love a series on it. It starts this upcoming Monday, and I’ll be here on Sunday to share more about the series with you. Stay tuned! This goal will be accomplished by end of April.
  4. Update old posts that have value, but are buried. Because this blog has over 1,500 posts now, so many of the posts are completely buried. Many of those posts are still relevant and could have value for your life now. In fact, so many of your comments on things you’d love to see in 2018 have already been addressed, but again, they are buried. I’d like to update those posts and bring them to life again.
  5. Gravel Roads. I will continue working on my book, Gravel Roads. In 2017, I sort of laid out how I wanted the book to be structured. You can see it HERE. Truth be told, I have no idea when or how this will be published, but I really enjoy working on it…..the full, real and raw stories that have made up my life.
  6. Continue the blog’s financial growth. In her New Year’s Resolutions list this week on Facebook, a friend listed one of her resolutions to, “Unfollow those that are primarily on social media to sell me something.” (I agree with her, and am going to do the same.) I have been thinking about this so much because I never want to be that person who is “selling something,” and yet, the reality is that my blog is a part of my business and I do make money from it. I have always been transparent with you about all the ways this blog makes money, and in 2017 the ways the blog made money grew exponentially with the addition of new brand partnerships and Beautycounter namely. I have no intentions of slowing the growth down in 2018 and here’s why. The more money this blog brings in, the more I am able to give back (yes, I am currently looking for a new cause to partner with – thoughts?!) and the more content and information I am able to deliver to you – for free. I have spent hundreds and thousands of hours researching, writing, and producing content that I think will help you in some way, shape, or form. If all you ever did was consume information on my blog vs. spending a single penny with me, that would be okay. Honestly. And while I would write for free because it’s my passion, having the income to go above and beyond is that cherry on top.
  7. Your topics. And finally, I have all the topics you said you’d like to read about written down now on my “future content planning calendar.” My goal is to hit as many as possible and/or re-surface old posts that address the needs. 

2018 is my year to Embrace Change and because I opted to not create a huge “goals” list, I truly want to spend the year writing here and creating all the things for you.

In return, all I ask is that you continue sending me requests and ideas for things you’d love to see me write about and/or create (HERE). I’d also ask that you share this blog with anyone and everyone you think might enjoy it. You can click HERE to share it on Facebook with family and friends or just send the blog link www.sarahkayhoffman.com. And finally, I’d ask that you simply enjoy this blog for anything and everything it might be to you. I have truly enjoyed getting to know more of you this past year, and am looking forward to even more in 2018.

p.s. Congrats to Carrie, who was contacted, for winning (from the 2017 Reader Survey) the Beautycounter item of her choice (up to $35 value). I should do more giveaways like this in 2018, yes?!

Xox,
SKH