Blogging, Scrap-booking and Coding

   Each year I try to come up with a new project to work on or acquire a new skill. However, most of the time I either run out of resources or time. Last year, it was re-learning how to play flute and working on a few DIY projects in addition to that I also went to a cooking class for several months with my sister. This year I somehow found myself working on a few things I did not plan on doing. Blogging, Coding, and scrapbooking.

 Blogging and coding are one of those unplanned projects, and scrapbooking I've been working on for about two years now. Scrapbooking, in particular, is an ongoing project that keeps transferring over to the next year. The other two are closely related and unplanned. I've played around with the thought of starting a blog, but never got around to it. Several weeks ago when a friend recommended it, I thought why not. I mean I've wanted to do it, so I might as well.

 Now let me tell you. Blogging has probably been the hardest thing I have had to do in a long long time. Oh, it's not the content that I am struggling with, instead, it's the layout of the blog itself. Things like the subscription button that pops up when you visit the page. The labels and tags that are created through the back end of the blog things like HTML and Java. Never in my life could I have imagined myself ever having to work on something this complicated. I spent 2 hours last night working on the subscription button. I still can't figure out how to eliminate the "subscribe" button on the upper right-hand side of the blog and I think I might have to tinker around in the coding of the theme itself. With all of these obstacles, I came to the conclusion that it's time to learn to code. I recently read an article that said kids between the ages of three and seven are being taught how to code. Yet, here I am, 21 years old and have absolutely no idea where to start. After my two hour exploration of Google and various tutorials on youtube, I began to see a pattern and realized that once I grasp the concept it isn't too complicated to figure out. I mean yes the </> symbols can be slightly overwhelming and yet, they are actually not that difficult.  I then found an app called SoloLearn and began the process of learning HTML coding. I've only done a few sections and just started this morning, but already I have a much better understanding of what it actually means to "code". Also, it is something so new and outside of the usual realm of skills I work on, and yet I love it! It's now my personal project because if 7-year-olds can, why can't I?

In the meantime, if any of you are interested in subscribing to the blog please don't click on the subscribe button on the front end of the blog. I know that is not something you hear every day, please let me explain. the yellow subscribe button is being fed to a system that I don't like (Feedburner) and it's really outdated, to say the least. I've moved over to MailChimp but as I'm still learning to work my way around and get everything figured out. I have yet to find where the information for that particular button is embedded.
If you do wish to subscribe you should have seen a screen pop up when you first visit the homepage. That particular screen is set up correctly. (Took me several hours and a few tutorials to figure it out) It is synced with the system I am currently on, and working to transition my blog over. From my research, it seems this is a blogger issue and not a WordPress issue, which is now making me wish I started there, but regardless. I don't back down from a challenge.

If you are interested in coding check out the Free resources below. Find any you think should be here? Let me know in the comments below! 

SoloLearn - SoloLearn is an online and mobile learning platform that offers free coding classes in 13 different programming languages.
Codecademy- Codecademy is an online freemium interactive platform that offers free coding classes in 12 different programming languages including Python, Java, JavaScript, Ruby, SQL, and Sass, as well as markup languages HTML and CSS.
Codewars- Codewars is an educational community for computer programming. On the platform, software developers train on programming challenges known as kata.
FreeCodeCamp- freeCodeCamp is a non-profit organization that consists of an interactive learning web platform, an online community forum, chat rooms, Medium publications and local organizations that intend to make learning web development accessible to anyone.
Code Conquest- Code Conquest is a free coding guide for beginners. Learn all about coding, compare and select training, take free tutorials and learn a ton more.
HackSource - is a massive list of curated & searchable programming tutorials. Tutorials are organized by category, subject and topic. Content is sourced from premier e-learning providers like Udemy, Edx & Coursera as well as niche providers that go deep on specific topics.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I want to apologize in advance for any grammatical errors you encounter while reading it. (It's not my strongest suit) please let me know what you think, I am always open to feedback. Also, if you are a coding pro who would love to help me out with my subscription button issues  I would be delighted if you contacted me with your thoughts on the problem, with any recommendations to fix it.**update** It's all fixed now. Thank you!