Guys, I’ve had some work done. That’s right, I got a face lift over here on my blog, and it is with GREAT excitement that I am finally able to reveal it to you!
2019 is an interesting year already; I knew it would be. We are settling into our forever-family now that Merritt is here, it has been three whole years (almost) since I sold my business, and while being a stay at home mom is a huge joy for me, there has always been a loud voice in my head encouraging me to go out there and be something in ADDITION to my (very important) role of Mom. One thing I knew going into 2019 is that I didn’t want to be limited by a new role or job that would be too narrow. I’m a woman who loves to explore the world and all it has in it, so something a bit boundless is important to me. At times, it feels nebulous, and I’m so lucky to have loved ones and friends who are helping me to define what the future looks like for me, but I also think there is a lot of grace in giving myself permission to just be whatever I want to be by simply owning this identity of Courtney B. Schultz, lock, stock and barrel. Sometimes this looks like me talking about my faith; sometimes it’s busting out my camera and exploring my passion of photography; sometimes it’s throwing beautiful parties. There’s room for all of that in my life, but up to this point, my meager websites have all been a little too under-developed to support a person with as many whims as I have.
Right at the beginning of the year, as I was really wrestling with what God wanted me to do, I finally heard him say during worship one Sunday morning, that it didn’t really matter! I was placing too much emphasis on the WHAT and not on the HOW. As long as I do EVERYTHING from a heart that is serving Jesus, it just doesn’t really matter WHAT I do. It could be helping women to reach their healthiest selves by sharing recipes on Instagram stories; it could be hosting gatherings at my home (and treating my guests as if they were Jesus, himself, visiting me); it could be baking cookies with my kids or using the proceeds from a closet sale to bless a friend. God was CLEAR! It doesn’t MATTER what you do, Court; you can do whatever you set your mind to. What MATTERS is that you do it for me, for my children, and as my child.
OK THEN! I took that permission and I ran with it. One of the first things that I heard following that message was a Podcast by Allie Casazza all about delegation and automation; two things I’ve never been super good at doing. But I heard her message (and you should too) and I really tried to apply it however it made sense. Knowing I wanted to vamp up my website into something that could withstand the changing tides of my passions and pursuits (and knowing I don’t possess the necessary skills myself and fumbling through it would only result in the same sub-par results of before), I called in reinforcements. Enter: Joel Graves.
Joel is a super friendly and talented husband-of-a-friend who works full time at our church as web designer and filmmaker. He is so talented and he made the redesign of this website a literal breeze. I’m grateful for him and his side-business, and I’m grateful to have been able to work with someone whose primary role is full time ministry. If you ever get the opportunity to support an individual’s side hustle, do it. Champion those people. Empower them. Enable them to continue to do the work of God and use their talents for Kingdom work.
So what’s new about this site that you didn’t have on the old one? I’ll tell you!
- Better categorization and organization. Want to look for my party posts? Simply head to the Celebrations category of the website. Boom. Want to know more about my fitness journey? Same. It’s all organized by category in a much more defined way.
- BOOK CLUB! Okay so while we haven’t officially formed a C.B.S. book club, I do have a MUCH better organization of all of my reading material for you here. Simply head over to the Book Club section and you can read all of my review posts to date with more coming in monthly. Maybe eventually we’ll start a legitimate book club!
- (Here’s the most exciting change): You can now shop directly from my website to purchase items that I use, love and share. Thanks to the LiketoKnow.it program, any Instagram posts that I enable with shopable items will be saved here and you can easily click through to view or purchase. Two options: shop the Instagram or just simply shop in a boutique-style setting. Someday, I may even offer retail products or photography prints directly from this site – no action on that end just yet but I’m open to it all!
I’m so excited for all of these changes and to have a hub from which I can now do any of these wild whims I think up. You know that thing you’ve been wanting to do? You should go do it.
