Happily Ever Krafter

In 2012 I started this blog under the name Anna Who is Magic, writing about everything from books to teaching to the single life to faith and everything in between. In the summer of 2019, I decided that I needed to update and re-brand my blog to reflect the changes that had taken place in my life since I started it, namely: my marriage, my relocation to Georgia, and my new baby boy. While there are certainly new topics to be written about, you will still find me talking a lot about books, teaching, faith, and everything in between! The new name of this blog was the idea of my friend Sarah, who came up with it to be used as the hashtag at Joe and my wedding. 

By trade I am a teacher, specifically in middle school Language Arts, and I have spent the past five years teaching in Catholic school, four in West Virginia and one in Atlanta. Teaching brings me SUCH joy, and I am blessed with former students who continue to stay in touch and meet me for lunch when I make it back to West Virginia to visit. With a new baby in our family, Joe and I decided that it would be best for me to stay at home with our son this year. While I am blessed by this opportunity to mother my son, I am also sad about not being in the classroom this year. Combining that with being in a new place, and realizing that I rely a lot on the writing of other women across the United States to feel empowered, connected, and supported, I decided that re-branding and continuing this blog would be a great way for me to feel purposeful and not alone this year. 

I was planning to re-brand and share before my son came, but in a fun twist of fate, I actually got everything set up with a new layout and a new url the day before I went into labor with him, 7 days before his due date. In the coming days, I plan to share his birth story as well as some other things I've had on my mind since his birth 10 days ago. 

As always, I love and appreciate you reading! More to come soon. In the meantime, here's a preview of my son, and follow me on 

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You Want Me To Click Where?

I really wanted to post today, but I was really struggling to come up with a topic. I have a few topics on the back burner, but I'm still thinking over them, and today was not the day to post. The truth is, I wanted to post today for one reason, and one reason only -- so you could see my newly updated blog. :)

Do you like it? I LOVE it. It's nice to have a change from time to time! While I purchased a design from Designer Blogs, my sister Erin spent a couple of hours helping me customize it. From updating the font of the blog's header to getting that photo to be a circle to sending me the code I needed to create new social media buttons, Erin is the person who really makes this blog work behind the scenes.

I figured I'd use this post to thank her for her continuous hard work. (She never complains, never says she's busy, never tells me to figure it out myself. She just helps. At 10 p.m. On a school night.) So, I thought I'd share a few fun photos of Erin and me growing up:

Hmmm ... it appears as though Erin knew back in 1986 exactly how she'd feel 30 years later when I said things like, "I uploaded them to imgur but can't figure out how to get them on the blog." (10:24 p.m.) I mean I feel like this picture sums up our whole life -- Me: Come on, Erin! You know you want to help me with this whilst I twirl around! Erin: Why am I forced to be related to this idiot?!

One princess and one witch. I don't know if there's a larger meaning here.

She always had the better eyebrows.

As always, I really appreciate you reading my blog. I love this little space so much. It's something that is mine.

*Also, I should add that this is my 300th post on this blog! I totally didn't plan for a big blog redesign to celebrate that milestone, but it's weird how things work out. Happy 300th Anna who is Magic.

Thursday.

Great news!

For about a year now, my goal has been to be part of the BlogHer network. Some of my favorite blogs (Camp Patton, Tiny Green Elephants, Conversion Diary) are members of this network. In a nutshell, BlogHer is a worldwide community of women bloggers. And I wanted in.

I spent several months getting my blog in order, getting more serious about posting frequently, and I even had a complete blog redesign done by my friend Miranda of Lil' Birdie Design Shop. I applied a few months ago and unfortunately found out that there was no room for my blog in the BlogHer network at that time. I was disappointed, but I thought maybe in another year or so I could try again.

Today I received an email from BlogHer saying they have room for my blog! This month!

I am so excited to have been accepted!

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In other news, Anna Marie still needs a family. I have blogged about her before. I have been praying since April that she finds a family. She is 15 years old, and, as the website says "Anna Marie is really struggling right now, longing for a family. Many of her friends have been adopted in the last year (through RR), but no family has come for *her*. She wants a family so badly — aches for a family, cries herself to sleep because her longing for a mama and a papa is so strong and so painful."

 CAN YOU IMAGINE?! She only has till December to find a family. The good news? $9,295.97 is available toward the cost of her adoption PLUS another $5,000 in a matching grant. Will you join me in praying her family finds her? Look at her! She is so beautiful. Or maybe you have an extra $5 laying about that you'd like to put in her adoption fund. For many families, cost is the barrier between them and their child. Let's help change that for Anna Marie's family!

Her "problem" is that she has a crossed eye and HIV. But in this country, HIV is so manageable with the proper medicine. I know many of you have been praying for her, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I just feel very connected to her and I take very seriously the job of helping her family find her. I know she only has a few months left to go, but I pray that God will work a miracle for my girl.

Hey Blog, Lookin' Good!

Friends!

I haven't posted since Good Friday, so I hope you had a very happy Easter. If you follow me on Facebook then you know I haven't posted in a couple of weeks because ...

MY BLOG WAS GETTING A MAKEOVER!!!

Woot!

So ... here it is! How do you like it? I REALLY like it. I love the pink/gold/green theme and the new banner and the wonderful sidebar headers!

I LOVE IT ALL!

Clearly I do not have myself to thank. So I should probably tell you whose fault this is! Haha.

It's my friend Miranda Tucci's. Here's what so nice -- Facebook gets a bad rap for a lot of things, and those things are mostly warranted. (What people choose to (over)share ... don't get me started.) At any rate, one of the tangibly awesome things about Facebook is when you can connect with an old friend you haven't seen in years. Miranda and I went to high school together but went separate ways after graduation, and now she lives in Hawaii. But I am friends with her on Facebook and have seen what she's up to over the years. She started her own blog a few years back, and I love blogs, so I read it. Sort of like a creeper. And it's a great blog!

And I also knew Miranda was a good blog designer, but then a few months ago she really started up her business again. She actually started doing that about the same time I was deciding I really wanted to make something of my blog. So I talked to Miranda about renovating mine. I am so lucky and happy she agreed!

If you want an awesome blog to read, check out hers at Our Nesting Place. And if you're considering a blog design, check out her website Lil' Birdie Design Shop. You will not be sorry you did!

Thank you Miranda!!!!!!!!