A Blessing for You

So, because my last post was a little on the negative side, I am posting something encouraging today.  Here is a scripture we memorized in our ladies group a while back, when we were making our way through the book of Ephesians.  I am posting it here as encouragement for you.  Always remember that you are uniquely special and dearly loved by the One who created you!  There really is no way to truly comprehend His love... and feel free to copy and use this graphic if you'd like to.  We used it to help us memorize, but use it however you'd like.

Speaking of Spinning... and Not Being Antisocial

Does social media make your head spin, or is it just me?  

Photo credit: Hali Newberry Photography

My first foray in the social media world was Facebook.  Ahhh... what a great tool for connecting with all those friends from different eras of my past.  I really do love that aspect of it.  And, now that I have a 3 month-old nephew whom I never get to see in person (seriously, have you ever seen a baseball that cute???), it is a great way for me to "virtually" watch him grow.  But, Facebook really is so here today and gone tomorrow... and even though it saves my things, I have a hard time going back and finding something my friends have posted.  When I check Facebook, one minute something is there and the next it is gone.  I think to myself, "Wait, I wanted to read that."  Have you had a conversation with someone you wish you could go back and reread? I sure have... but, the posts just keep on scrolling ...and scrolling ...and scrolling by.

Then Twitter came along, the place where you can say whatever you want to for the world to see -- or at least your followers -- in 140 characters or less.  I think we can all plainly see why this one didn't work out for me...

Next there was Pinterest... what a great concept: a great visual representation of a link that I want to save.  And, I am such a visual person that it was perfect for me.  You know, the instant recipe keeper for all those delicious looking recipes you see in images all over the internet.  

It was also a great tool for organizationally challenged people looking to improve their organizing skills (me!)  And it was the perfect spot for curating a whole bunch of loveliness in one place.  However, three years down the road half of my image links no longer work.  So that recipe I put off trying for so long still looks great in the image, I just have no idea where the recipe is.  And the organizational site went "poof!" just like my organizational skills.

And then there was Instagram.  Visual instant gratification... "Hey family and friends, look at me doing this or that right now!" ...but with no real conversation (unless you count hashtags... don't even get me started on twentyhashtagsononepicturethaticannotreadbecausetheyallruntogether!!) And again, the images just keep scrolling and scrolling.  If I want to see something from 3 weeks ago I have to 1. remember who posted it, 2. find that person's username, and 3. go look through all their images until I see it.  Too much trouble... I'd rather just move on.

Which brings me right back to where I started ever having conversations online.  I am back here hoping for some meaningful dialogue (or even monologue, should no one care to read it!) interspersed with images and links that hopefully will be more (or less) permanent.  And I am thankful that there are still a number of you who feel the same way!

Not really antisocially,

Spinning Right On Its Axis...

So, has it really been three and a half years since I last posted? It's just hard to believe that, but in some ways it seems even longer. With my children grown but not gone, I am still in a very busy stage of life.  Yet, I miss the blog world, my friends made here, and the writing and photos that go along with storytelling.  So, I am going to make a renewed effort and try to not be hard on myself when I go for (what seems like) ages between posts. I can hardly believe that when I started this blog over eight years ago, I posted every day! Whoa, I don't know how I managed that and everything else. But, realistically I know that I have too many things going on right now to post everyday... but I can post sometimes.

Since that first blog post in May 2008, so much has happened in our lives as well as in the world of technology.  We have a lot of visual "instant gratification" these days through Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and all the other social media sites.  Yet, my writer's heart longs for a space like this to just ramble on about whatever is on my heart... and for something that's not here today and gone tomorrow.  I love being able to look back at the old posts here and see what God was doing in our lives then and how far He has brought us and our families.  I am using the word "our" because as I look back at the comments, I was not doing this alone. I have tried to stay connected to a number of you by popping in every now and then to read your posts and comment (sparsely, I know.) I am thankful that some of you faithful ones are still at this blogging thing!  It just makes my world feel that it is spinning right on its axis to be able to go visit your beautiful blog homes on the web.

I am still doing art along with graphic and web design, all of which keeps me quite busy.  I am currently in the midst of a very interesting commissioned piece of art for a young man who is about to get married... the piece will be a wedding present for his bride as a remembrance of the spot where he proposed to her.  It is such fun getting to be in on secrets like that.  I just rolled out a brand new website last week for a local small business in town.  I also took on the role of president of one of our local art associations this year, which has added to my already long list of tasks.  But, it has also given me the opportunity to become immersed in the local art community, to get to know some local artists whose works I have admired, and to learn many, many things about techniques, materials, shows, etc.

For those of you still connected here, THANK YOU for not giving up on me. I have always felt like our blog community was a bit of a "small town" on the internet, as those of us with common interests found one another early on.  For now, I am jumping back into this blog with both feet!  There is so much loveliness to be shared, and I want to be a part of the sharing.  I hope to see you around this great big world (wide web)!