New Blog Look......Again!

I am sitting in a hotel room on a rainy Sunday morning "visiting" my blog land friends.  As I peruse the different sites, I begin to think my blog needs some tweaking..........again.  It wasn't that long ago I changed things up using the logo my son created for me as my blog banner.  Although I love this logo for my business cards, I felt like it didn't give the "feel" I was going for on my blog.  I'm forever changing things up around the house like this.  You know, rearranging furniture, painting something for a new look, switching up decor, etc. etc..  I guess my blog is no different.  I just like change.

Here's my previous blog banner.....

And here's the new one.......

I know you can see this up top.  But this way you can see them together to compare.

I also changed up the entire layout of the page.  And added some new features, like popular posts, over on the left side.  I still think I need a different background.  But, this one looks best with the choices I could find on Blogger.  I really don't get how to put a custom background on here from some of the great blog design people out there.  I have the new blogger format and most of them seem to give instruction for the old.  Anyone have some help for me?  Well, thanks to Background Fairy I don't have that problem anymore.  Thanks Karen!

Anyway, tell me what you think?  If you've been by here before, which looks best......old or new?  If this is your first trip over, what do you think?  I appreciate your comments and suggestions.

Be blessed!