I’m excited to be able to introduce you to a new friend of mine. Gina and I have gotten to know eachother over the past couple of months. She has such a great heart!
Name: Gina Kleinworth
Blog Name & URL: Chic Homeschool Mama www.chichomeschoolmama.com
2. Twitter Username: @firefam5
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3 words that describe you? Just 3?? Loyal, opinionated, Introvert (I know- they are all so different and don’t really go together. Rest assured- I do not have multiple personalities)
When did you first start blogging? 2007
What was your reason to start blogging? I started our family blog to help keep everyone in the loop- since we don’t have family close by. I dabbled with a couple other blogs but soon became too busy with work to keep up with them all. A few months back I had to rename our family blog due to some people that had found it and were trying to use the content against us. (small town politics) So while I was at it – I started a couple others as well and they have all been steadily growing. It has been quite a fun experience. Now I focus on my mom blog to connect with others that share the same passions. Those that would like to follow our family blog as well can contact me for the link.
What is your “niche” for your blog? Since I homeschool & work from home- there are many things going on around here all the time. I would say the “niche” would be the daily joys & sometimes the troubles of managing it all. Just Life. I also have a serious addiction to all things fashion & not a sole around that really understands. So when I come across things I love- I need to share them with someone- so I will usually blog about them.
Do you have a phrase or catchy saying for your blog? Not sure how “catchy” it is but my sub-title is Fashion Loving- Homeschooling – WAHM. It’s pretty much my life in a nutshell- a very small nutshell.
When do you find time to blog? When work has me slammed- I will usually write it all out while I am waiting for the kids during dance class or bowling league & cut and paste it in when I have a few minutes later on. Right now, I have a bit more free time on my hands- so I blog as frequently as the mood strikes me. Especially since we don’t work on a traditional school year, I tend to have a lot more flexibility in my days than I had grown accustomed to for so long. I love to start the kids in January and finish up around October. We still get in enough classroom days in the year but we can take the hectic holiday months off so we can focus on family. Besides- it’s much too hot here in the summers- so doing school then gives us an excuse to stay in the air conditioning.
Tell us about your family? My husband and I have been together for 14 years. He is the Deputy Fire Chief for the county and that keeps him pretty busy. My son is 12 & a HUGE NASCAR fan. He loves math &science & makes school easy for me. My older daughter will be 10 in 2 weeks. She loves to read & is a bit more reserved than the other two. She takes after me the most. The youngest is 7. She is my show stopper. She loves being in the spotlight and is often competing with her brother for the title “family clown”. Not sure if it’s due to a change in parenting as we went through the early years with each child (or she was born this way)- but the youngest is very different from her siblings. She does not share the others thirst for knowledge- which in turn gives me the most challenge with homeschooling. I take comfort & gain support through all the wonderful homeschool blogs I follow to keep me going.
What are your hobbies? I have a magazine addiction. If I have “free” time (ha) or if I am ignoring the chores I will most likely be curled up in my chair with a magazine. We love to spend our weekends as quiet as possible. If we can- we will be watching football, creating great meals in the kitchen & spending quality family time together. I also crochet, sew & I love to bake treats. But I don’t find as much time for that as I would like. I have a huge interest in photography- so I may start pursuing that a bit more over the coming months. My husband would love it if our hobbies included camping- but I grew up in So. California. He grew up just outside of Lake Tahoe. There isn’t an outdoorsy bone in my body. I love to look at nature- but if it comes down to getting dirty or not having facilities- you can count me out. An RV is something we are working on- so we can all enjoy what we love.
What piece of advice can you give to other bloggers out there? Blog about what you are passionate about. If you are blogging just to fill for content- you are going to come across as phony. I always have a deep rooted opinion or a complete passion for the things I blog about.
What are some fun facts about you that you’d never share unless
asked? Hmmmm- let’s see. I would love more kids. I am inspired by all the moms I have connected with that are able to do all that they do. The original plan was 5- so I would love to put some of these things aside that derailed us from that plan and get back to that.
I would love to have my own make-up line. Creating things like the packaging is something I love. I truly appreciate great packaging and if a product has a great scent. I will buy them based on that alone. So I would love the opportunity to do that for a line of my own. (I originally was graphic arts major before leaving college to get married- so things like this are right up my alley)
What are your top 3 favorite blogs that you follow? My good friend & colleague Kristen has a fantastic blog http://dineanddish.net/ I have heard through the grapevine that she is actually one of the top 3 female bloggers in the nation. So that is pretty exciting. She was also invited to be on Martha Stewart radio a while back. She founded Adopt-a-Blogger, which is how I was so blessed to find Meghan athttp://www.meghantucker.com/ My latest find is http://yestheyareallmine.wordpress.com/ She is an inspiration to me with everything she does. So glad I found her through a Hop.
Where do you see your blog in 1 year/5 years? I would love to just still be blogging- connecting & growing in 1 year or 5 years. So much happens so fast- it’s hard to think that far in advance. Ideally I would love to be blogging more and working less- don’t we all? But that will take some changes- like sponsors to make that happen. I am really just enjoying the connections I am making & knowing that I am not alone in this journey- be it homeschool, blogging or anything else I encounter along the way. The rest is for the Good Lord to decide for me.
Anything else we need to know about you? 🙂 I was once called “weird” because some found it unusual that I am able to homeschool, blog & work from home. Funny- when I started looking for other mom blogs- I found that not only am I not weird for doing what I do- but I now view it as odd when I meet people that don’t have a blog. There are so many out there like me- they just don’t live around me
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