Hello and Welcome to AliMcJoy.com!

I am a broad spectrum of emotions as I am typing the very first blog post for my brand new website! I am excited, nervous, intimidated, and hopeful all at once. I am so glad you are here, reading this post right now! For a couple of years I have felt a pull to write more, remembering the dreams of my youth when a notebook full of blank pages and a pen/pencil were my favorite tools. Even though I have a BA degree in English, I hadn’t done much writing in “a few” years.

So I took a college-level Creative Writing course online. It was the kick I needed to push me to continue writing. I am still working to develop and strengthen my writing muscles. Hopefully that journey will never end. This website is a place for me to share my heart with you on topics and ideas that, even though they matter deeply, will probably never be published anywhere else. I also want to share with you updates on future works I may publish and exclusive materials to use when reading with your children/students.

Why Ali McJoy?

When I decided to start a website, I did a LOT of research (as I do before making any big decision, and most less-than-big decisions…maybe I go overboard a bit on research sometimes). I knew that the name of my website would be important. I was stumped. I didn’t want it to be simply “my name”.com, because that is just not my style. I would have always felt self-conscious about giving out my web address. I started a list and kept checking to see if those names were available {P.S. chocolatesinmypurse(dot)com was available at the time I wrote this if you feel so inclined… }. I deliberated for a few days before I brought the list to my best friend (AKA my husband) and we deliberated together. I have recently been trying to improve my creative lettering (you know, like calligraphy) and so one day he came across a paper I’d left on the kitchen counter as I was writing the word joy. Suddenly he turned to me and said,

“How about Ali McJoy?”

my creative lettering of the word “joy”

I am slow to process, so it took me a few more days to think about it and warm up to the idea. Do you know what I loved most about his idea? His explanation for why he thought this was the perfect name for my website. He told me it was a way to incorporate my name with the fact that I am always happy. His comment shocked me because we have been married for 14 years. We have survived years of infertility, fertility treatments, five children, postpartum depression, and so much more, and I thought he would be the LAST person on earth to think I was happy most of the time! This is probably one of the biggest compliments I have ever, or will ever receive. So I took that comment to heart and figured if the man who knows me better than anyone else on the planet thinks I am a joyful person, I want to share that joy with everyone else and this website is one of the best ways I know how.
As a mom of five, I wear many hats: nurse, teacher, housekeeper, driver, coach, and referee—just to name a few. This blog will wear many hats as well as I hope to share a variety of ideas and “lifehacks” that I have found along the way. I hope you will do three things after reading this post and any/every subsequent post:

1. -be patient with me as I learn how to build this blog come back and visit often! Thanks, again, for visiting me today.
2. -come back!
3. -visit often!

I am so glad you stopped by today.

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