We're Splitting Up...

Our blogs! Just our blogs, people! I never envisioned it happening this way. But, after three amazing years of blogging together, Kelsey is leaving Words of Williams to re-focus on Snappy Casual (where it all began in the first place). And if you've been on Snappy Casual the past few days, you've noticed a big change in design/direction there as well.

I've been asking Kelsey if she was breaking up with me (my blog) for a few months now for a few different reasons, and I'll have her explain more in a minute. At first it was the long winter wearing us down; then painting our entire house and Rooney's golden birthday stress; then lack of direction, purpose, and vision; and, finally, a trip to Kansas City for a blogging conference. You may have noticed her decreased absence in our posting schedule as her passion for writing on this site dwindled.

While we both have fallen in love with writing and sharing our stories on the the Internet, it's been increasing difficult for us to be true to our individual selves while keeping a consistent message on this site. Our Internet lives are very much an extension of our creative selves and it seems like we were having to limit each other too often here in an effort to be a semi-consistent voice.

Before I jump into the history and planned future of Words of Williams, let's let Kelsey give her last words:

Note from Kelsey: Hey guys! I'm so excited about where we're both headed and truly think both our blogs/brands will be stronger as we focus on what we're passionate about (intentional family and money for Eric, emotional family and simple fashion for me). It was simply too much for me to write for 2-4 different websites, and after attending Go Blog Social a few weeks ago, I knew I needed to refine my brand and focus on what I love. Plus, Eric and I have different goals and viewpoints on blogging, which has created some friction for us on the back-end for a couple years, and the timing just seems right for us to blog separately. Of course, we'll still be blogging next to each other on the couch in the evenings, but Eric will be diving deeper into family finances (he's got some seriously awesome things planned) and I'll be writing about our family adventures, motherhood, Rooney, fashion, home decor, etc. I'd love for you to check out my blog if you like those sorts of things. I personally am SUPER excited to become a reader/cheerleader of Words of Williams rather than an editor/writer. Nothing about this "split" is secretive, so please ask in the comments if you have questions!

History of wordsofwilliams.com

If you're newish, I thought it would be fun to take a trip down memory lane. I started blogging because Kelsey was blogging and making me take her outfit photos. I didn't have much to do with my free time while she was spending so much of her free time blogging, so I figured I'd start my own.

And then we moved from wordsofwilliams.wordpress.com, purchased wordsofwilliams.com and decided to blog here together. And for three years we blogged together.

Here's a look at what we've accomplished together...

• 899 posts published
• 407,221 published words
• 2,477,866 pageviews
• 333,200 unique visitors
• 8,599 comments (thank you all!)

Designs

Design is always evolving. We've gone through many changes over the years, but only a few really drastic design changes. And even though I just updated our homepage and re-worked our about page (I'm not a coder, but Google is my friend), I'll be tweaking things over the coming weeks. As you can already see by the new logo, headshot, and other subtle changes to the site.

Original design launched on 3/9/2011.

The major overhaul came in October 2012. And our good friend Joa gave us a lot of design flexibility and a color palette to play with.

Speaking of color palette, my favorite color is green... and while Kelsey was a big fan of the orange, I really dig the green. So some subtle changes coming...

Taglines: an Evolution

like words of wisdom, but not...

This was my cute attempt at being funny, and being new to blogging, I had no idea what I was doing (I feel that way today sometimes, too).

Happily, not effortlessly, married

This is still true today for us. We believe marriage is a great gift from God, but that doesn't mean it's easy. All good things require effort and our marriage is no exception. We're still working on our marriage, in fact we have to work harder with a kiddo around. Our focus is stretched as parents and it strains our marriage. Hello life!

Purposeful Money / Purposeful Family

My biggest passion in life is to help young families make sense of their finances. I know firsthand how it can make a difference in your life, and I want to help others discover this freedom, too. And whether you have a family now or hope to one day, I strive to lead my family with purpose so as to not waste our precious time here on Earth, and hopefully make an impact on our family tree for generations to come.

Topics

The topics on this site have been widespread for sure. But, after writing a book and attempting to focus more on the personal finance side, Kelsey has been more interested in lifestyle, motherhood and other lovely things. And while we've always relished in the fact that sometimes both our voices made this site unique, it's also hindered both of us from expressing who we really are at times as we tried to "write together" on the same blog.

So we're splitting up. Kelsey will be writing on Snappy Casual and I'll still hang out here.

• Snappy will be Kelsey sharing all she's shared here, except now it will be there... and maybe a few outfit posts, too.
• Words of Williams will be my own and focus on money and intentional family (my passions).

Transition

Please bear with us as things will be evolving and changing. And by changing, I mean the look and feel of the blog. We're still not sure what to do with all of Kelsey's old posts, whether to move them to Snappy or keep them here in the archives.

Kelsey might post here from time to time if she has something she'd like to say. And I'm sure she'll be sharing all about our family life on Snappy Casual, so be sure to follow along there as well (she's way cooler than me anyway).

It's the end of an era...maybe not forever, but for a season at least. We hope you've gotten to know us as individuals as well as a couple, and we certainly hope you stick around and keep in touch with us as individuals as well.

All that being said, we're always open to questions and comments and post ideas for what you would want to see on either site.