Big News! (What's Next for Us)

It's time.

Hello Friends,

Since getting off Instagram two years ago we have been looking for what our next chapter should look like. I have been hungry to continue writing poetry since the old caption days, and Elisha and I both desire to connect in a more personal way . . . to bring you into the more intimate parts of our home and family-life like we used to before YouTube and Social Media felt so big and revealing.

That said . . .

Welcome to our new home away from home! A place I am going to share about day-to-day life. Not the big stuff the algorithm picks up, but what we are doing for homeschool curriculum this year, opinion pieces, little written thoughts that come to my mind throughout the day . . . basically, my public diary.

If you are an avid follower of Top 5 Tuesday, never fear! Your inbox will stay the same. You will just get your weekly Top 5 Tuesday update delivered via Substack instead of our old email provider. Bonus Perk: Substack will archive old emails as posts here so you can reference older emails. This makes me happy because Elisha’s email is one of the highlights of my week. (Of course, since I get to live with him he makes me laugh every day, but T5T is special. :)

What does this mean for you?

Not all change is good, but this one is.

What is NOT changing, is your weekly Top 5 Tuesday email being delivered straight to your inbox. The only difference is that it will be delivered via Substack—think of him as our digital butler, bringing your notes on a little gold platter complete with a letter opener.

Also, if you would like to start receiving my modern motherhood poetry in your inbox, you can click here, to go to settings and subscribe to the section titled Now That I’m a Mother.

Those of you who know me from the Instagram Days, know that I love to write encouraging modern poems for women, but when I left social media (as did many of you) we no longer had an avenue to connect. My hope is that these brief encouragements for mothers will bless your heart and put words to feelings we share.

What IS Changing . . .

Enter: B-Roll, A NEW Video Podcast!

Yes! We created a new monthly video podcast where we won’t be sitting in our podcast chairs talking in front of microphones. Instead, we will be taking the camera with us as we show—not tell. This new platform enables us to create a private section: a paid area where we are able to offer more personal family-style content than we have been comfortable sharing anywhere else. One fun addition is our creation of B-Roll, a secret, private podcast for those closest to us.

Most of you are familiar with our work at Now That We’re a Family, and you know we love to podcast there weekly. But B-Roll is different. Because of the private nature of this show, we get to be more candid and actually take you through our home and life showing real-time footage of what we are doing and creating. This will look like more walkthroughs of our build and our life in North Idaho. (In fact, the first episode is already up here!)

In addition to receiving the video podcast of B-Roll every month, paid subscribers will receive:

• My Journal. Yes, I know it sounds funny, but I have been keeping a digital journal for awhile (as a backup after my pen and paper version burned), and it’s packed with home-rhythms we are currently loving, what I’m using, what isn’t working, soap-box rants, and opinions. This is section is one I update often, so it’s only for those who want to hear from me a LOT.

• Home School Resources. Homeschool life is constantly shifting for us as ages and family size shifts, and this is where I’ll share regular updates such as: what we are trying in our homeschool, what curriculum we use, how a day looks in our homeschool life, and ways we have found to juggle making it all work.

• Family Content. Elisha and I have a lot of ideas for this. Our kids have a lot of ideas for this. We’d like to invite you to come along for the ride and see where our creativity takes us.

• Video + Essay Library. Our Home Management Resources, Family Routines and more.

Of course, the Now That We’re A Family Podcast will continue streaming on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts, Top 5 Tuesday will still go out every Tuesday (or Wednesday . . .). But after a lot of prayer, we are excited for what we believe is the next best step—opening up the door to our home a little bit wider and getting to communicate with those of you who are close with us in a more unfiltered way. Offering paid content will allow us to share more of what is close to our hearts in a way that still protects our family, away from the hustle and bustle of social media.

Subscribing is simple, it’s just $7/month. (It’s more affordable with the annual option, but maybe just go out on a limb and try it for one month. ;) And you’ll get B-Roll, my journal, articles on things we are thinking about, random family posts, and of course motherhood poetry (You can easily opt out of anything that you don’t love too!) If you’re ready to join us, just hit the button below. (There’s a B-Roll podcast ready and waiting for you immediately!)

You guys are the reason we love what we do, and we look forward to every time we get to connect with you, whether that is in-person, on the podcast, and now here: a new venture just for those who want to see and read a little unpolished day-in-and-day-out life of the Voetbergs.

All of you on the Top 5 Tuesday Email list, we are SO happy to have here! If you don’t go paid, nothing will change for you at all (minus the butler, you remember). And for those of you who join our new little corner of the web . . . WE ARE SO EXCITED TO HAVE YOU!! We look forward to hearing from you more and connecting in a deeper way.

See you on the other side!
Katie