I'm a "Do-It-Yourself" kind of guy. When the washing machine breaks I'd rather spend hours Googling the problem, discovering how to fix it and ordering the parts from some website instead of spending an hour of someone else's time and $100. At the end of the process I always end up saying the same thing, "Well that was stupid! Next time I'll spend the money." At least now I know how to repair a washing machine, a microwave, computer, speakers, (not a printer -- I ruined that), various NON-ENGINE related parts of cars, etc. When I went to the dermatologist and had a mole removed, I swear the thought crossed my mind, "That doesn't look so difficult, I bet I could do that myself next time." (Not so much with the vasectomy though.)
When it became apparent that Brenna and I wanted a website beyond the general off-the-shelf template, we searched the web for weeks, visited hundreds of sites,and found Squarespace. We're loving it so far. It looks nice, it's adaptable, intuitive. It's not free, but I think that falls into the you-get-what-you-pay-for category. We had actually already paid for a year of Typepad, but liked the look and feel of Squarespace so much that we decided to chuck it and defect.
Now, to find the style that says "Uncertainty," with a certain confidence. The title never felt so appropriate. We spent a Saturday morning wandering through the web looking for someone's else's vision that we could copy. No luck. Then, we wandered through the house, looking for anything we liked. We didn't seem to like anything. I don't remember what happened next. I think the sun went down, and the wine came out.
No matter how easy a template is to use, if you don't have a clear vision it's not going to work. By my third glass of wine my vision was blurred, and I gave up completely. I think I could've figured out a lot of the technical stuff and I have an okay eye for design, but, drunkenness aside, this one falls into the "mole removal" and "engine" categories -- call in a professional. There are others with much better design sense who already have the technical skills to customize our site, and who possibly have a higher tolerance for alcohol than I do.
It was important to us to find a web designer who's familiar with Squarespace. We scoured the web and found Melody Watson. (I'm using the royal "We" here. It was really Brenna who found Melody's site, but California's a community property state, so she's half my find -- by law.) We're just at the beginning, but since the whole point of this website is to document our journey, the creation of the website is now part of the website.
Nice to meet you Melody.