Sunday-ing

Today I am listening to Bob Dylan, working on layers of seed bead necklaces, and tackling LOADS of laundry.

Our summer has started off pretty busy with 3 different trips that allowed us to have a great time with family. In between trips, my day job has been a bit nutty. Our laundry has suffered, as a result. I thought about posting a picture of the ridiculous amount of laundry I have to do but decided to just stick with colorful pictures of beads instead.

That got me thinking about how we post just the good things in our lives on the Internet - perfect lighting, color, only posting the 2 photos of our kids smiling because the other 50 they were making faces or hitting one another. Between social media and blogs, it can leave a person feeling inadequate. I'm toying with the idea of doing a blog post devoted to the mundane and less than beautiful things in my life. It makes me a little nervous to put that kind of thing out there but, without those things, we wouldn't appreciate the good as much, right?

Hope you have a wonderful Sunday!

Dear Sara

Recently I started using one of my various journals to write notes to myself. Usually it's to a specific moment in my past but, sometimes, it is directed at Future Sara. Sometimes it's silly and, sometimes, it's more serious. It's been a good way to record memories I have and my thoughts on those memories. It has also been a way of reconciling things in my past. Do you ever wish you could go back to a moment in your childhood and give yourself a hug and say "it will get better"? This is my way of doing that.

I thought I might occasionally share a Dear Sara entry here on my blog. I will probably keep the more personal and private posts to myself, but I don't mind sharing others. I don't have a lot of entries at this point but I have already learned that I wouldn't change much from my past. There are definitely tough times that I would hate to relive but I realize now that they shaped me as I am now.

For this first 'Dear Sara' post, I will share this one:
Dear Sara 11/14/1998,
Best decision you ever made or will make.
Love,
Completely fulfilled Sara
P.S. 11/14/1998 was the day I married the one and true love of my life

Are there certain moments in your life that you would love to be able to share words of wisdom or love with your past self? What would they be?
Happy Saturday-ing!

My Techie Attempts

A few months ago, my laptop died and I decided to go the way of the iPad. For most of my purposes, I have been happy with the change. I've never had a Mac before so there have been some learning curves - especially since my day job is done entirely on a PC.

The things I have learned to love about having an iPad: the easy portability, the speed (as compared to my previous laptop), and I am loving the camera and photo editing apps that I've found. I have been using my iPad a lot for easy photos and editing. I still use my DSLR camera but it's nice to be able to play with photography easily when I've been really busy. I'm also starting to play around with videos and editing.

The biggest problem I have had is trying to blog from my iPad. Every time I want to post, I have to jump on my husband's laptop to do it. I recently did some research and found some apps that were recommended for blogging with an iPad. After reading several articles and reviews, I decided to try Blogsy. That is what I am using to write this post right now. It cost me $5.99 so the cheapskate in me is expecting A LOT from it. Don't fail me, Blogsy.

Mostly this is a test post and my attempt to impersonate a modern blogger. We'll see how this goes. I'm doing a lot of hunting and pecking to figure out this app. Maybe, just maybe, I'll become one of those cool bloggers who actually understand what all of these apps and bloggy talk mean. Maybe.

 

 

 

The Pintester Movement

So, we all have those pins on Pinterest that have been there forever and we have never tried them.  I have had this pin on Pinterest for quite a while.  It looks pretty easy but I just never did anything with it.  Then, I read about The Pintester Movement.

The Pintester is a blog I love to follow.  The blogger, Sonja Foust, is funny and she is very open about trying different pins (mostly with hilarious results).  I look forward to her posts each week.  So when she decided to round up other bloggers to try out those pins that had been sitting in their boards and post the results...I was in!

Enter...

I had a trip planned this past, long weekend but I really wanted to participate.  I chose a pin that interested me and could be completed within a reasonable amount of time.  I also wanted to be able to try out a few different versions.

I started with the typical hand tracing.  I used marker for the black lines and the pink hand outline.  Then I went with crayons to color in the background lines.  I chose crayons mostly because my son received a large amount of crayons for Christmas and I can't resist a box of new crayons!  The hand turned out just ok.  My lines weren't that straight but the hand has the slight 3D effect I was wanting to achieve.

Then I wanted a different shape.  The original link I used for the instructions had a banana as one of the examples.  I looked around my house for some additional items and came up with a video game controller.  There are plenty of them in this house full of boys.  I'm not overly excited about this example but I did play around a little with the background lines to see if a pattern would still make the main object stand out.  I do like the patterned lines on this one.  Again, I used markers and crayons.

My final drawing was of my 7 year old son's right foot.  He giggled quite a bit as I traced the outline of his foot with a pencil.  My 9 year old son was concerned that my paper was going to stink.  It didn't.  The foot came out kind of weird and I went a little further with patterns.  It's a little busy but you get the picture (pun!).

So, that is one pin I can cross off of my list!  My kids were sucked into it and really want to try some different objects.  I also taught my nieces how to do it over the weekend.  It's a fun activity for kids.  I also remembered how nice it is just to color with crayons some times.  I watched old episodes of The Office as I colored.  

I can't wait to check out The Pintester Movement post on May 30.  She will be posting links to many other bloggers who tried different pins with various results.  I am very excited to be a part of the party!

The Ship

In 2007, I opened my first Etsy shop with my friend.  I primarily sold jewelry at that time.  I also opened a Facebook account to promote my shop.  At the time, my friends and family were still on MySpace so the only "friends" I had on Facebook were other Etsy shop owners.  The interaction was minimal.

Gradually my friends and family migrated from MySpace to Facebook (sorry, Tom!).  My attention to my Etsy shop ebbed and flowed over the years and most of those initial "friends" were deleted as I used Facebook for more of a personal use.  However, there were a few of those initial Etsy shop friends who I found interesting and kept around to see what they created.

Over the years, I started interacting more often with two ladies from that Etsy bunch.  We would comment on photos, comment on each other's statuses, etc.  I bought some photos from one of them.  An online friendship began to develop.  From there, they introduced me to other friends they had online with similar interests.  

We started to have long message threads of conversations until one day, one of my brilliant friends created a private Facebook group for us to interact regularly and privately.  It is a very personal and sacred place for me so I will only refer to it as The Ship.  Initially we had a larger group of women but life happened, cattiness happened, and some of them jumped ship.  Then there were six of us aboard The Ship.  One of them is my sister who I brought aboard to grow closer to her as well.

Over the last couple of years, I have checked in with those five ladies every day.  We know intimate details of each other's lives.  We've helped each other through difficult life changes and problems.  We've shared a lot of laughs and had a lot of ridiculous conversations.  We are located all over the United States but geography does not dictate our level of closeness.

We've texted, talked on the phone, sent notes and packages to each other, and some have actually met in person.  I'm writing this today because one of my shipmates is in town visiting her father, who just happens to live in a neighboring town to me.  She and I are going to meet face to face for the first time this afternoon and I can't wait!  We all talk about one day finding a way to all get together in person.  It's tough with geographic distance and busy schedules but it will happen.  One day.

I write all of this because these ladies and this ship have helped me to grow in ways I would not have imagined.  They are all so very different from me yet somehow we have commonalities.  I have learned how to be more open about my feelings which has helped me with other relationships in life.  I have learned to look at life differently and to be more open to experiences and people.  When I am feeling out of sorts and can't figure it out, I just type a rambling, jumbled mess and my girls help me pinpoint what is bothering me.  They inspire me to be more creative.  They make me laugh.  A lot.  They've helped me to become a better friend to my oldest and dearest friends.  Their encouragement also helped give me the confidence to make a new friend in my town last year.  When I was completely dorky and excited about this new friendship, my shipmates joined in and encouraged me.  As a result, that new friend is one of my closest friends.

The Ship has been afloat for over two years now and I think it will exist in some shape for a long time.  While I believe that we may go through times where we don't chat as much, I know if I called out with a need, those five ladies would be there in a heartbeat.  

Those who know me in person would probably be surprised that I have developed these online friendships.  My husband was skeptical at first but he has grown to know these ladies through my stories and has even become Facebook friends with some of them too.  He has seen my growth as a result of these friendships.  I think he's somewhat excited (or at least curious) to meet one of my friends today too.  It's weird to refer to it as "meeting" her when I know so much about her already.

For all their faults, technology and the Internet have definitely provided me with an opportunity I would not have had without it.  An opportunity to develop strong friendships and to grow as a person.  The Ship is a big part of my life and I wouldn't change it for anything.  Thanks, ladies (you know who you are).  

2013 Goals - May Update

I wanted to post an update regarding my goals for 2013 - particularly my goal for growing vegetables this year.  I do not have a green thumb but I tried really hard.  However, the results were less than stellar.

I started lettuce, kale, tomato, and cucumber from seed.  I babied these plants like crazy and they shot up pretty quickly.  I was feeling pretty good about myself.

They grew and grew.  I was very pleased with what seemed like a green thumb emerging!

They got to be pretty decent sized seedlings (I don't have a photo of them at their biggest and brightest).  My husband and I were just about ready to build the raised bed and put them in the ground.  That's when things went downhill.  First some of the lettuce started to struggle and die.  Then the rest of the plants went pretty quickly.  I won't bore you with the details but my expert opinion on what may have happened to the plants:

They had too much water
They had too little water
They didn't have enough light
They had too much light
They hate me

That's basically the prognosis I came up with after some Internet searching. Plants are complicated beings and seem pretty smug when I can't figure them out.

I was pretty bummed and a little embarrassed at first.  However, then it dawned on me...that was the biggest success I've ever had with plants on my own.  I usually don't even get them to seedlings.  So while I won't be eating my own homegrown veggies this summer, I will be happy with the experience and the small amount of success I had in the beginning.  It's a start.  Maybe next year I'll get even further?  Luckily I had not invested much money so there was no issue there.

I am still going to consider it a goal that was completed.  I gave it a good try, learned some things, stressed a little too much, and there is a great Farmer's Market in town where I will continue to buy kale, lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers.  Goal completed (pretty much).

I did enjoy having the plants in my home office and I enjoyed the smell of earth each morning when I went to work.  So, I decided to add some other plants to my work area.  Plants that even I can't destroy too quickly (fingers crossed)... Succulents!

My iPOD does not take the same quality photos that my DSLR camera does - my apologies!

So, that's that.  I will try again but I need a year to work up the motivation again.

One last thing before I finish this post, yesterday was Fibromyalgia Awareness Day.  I was too busy enjoying Mother's Day with my family so wasn't able to post.  Please help to spread awareness for this awful chronic illness.  I live with it and many other people do too.  I manage mine with a mix of traditional medicine and holistic approaches.  I have found ways to manage through the pain, fatigue, flu-like illness, and many, MANY other symptoms but I still have flare ups that just knock me out here and there.  I have learned a lot about myself living with this illness and I would love to see the day that we can wipe it out all together.  Thanks for reading!

The Neverending Blanket is Complete!

The Neverending Blanket is complete!  I should probably change the name of it but I like it the way it is.  It's the first large blanket I've ever made.  I started it in early 2011.  It didn't really take me 2 whole years.  It was one of those projects that I would work on furiously for a couple of weeks and then not touch it for a few months.  This cycle continued and, the larger it grew, the more I thought I would never finish it.  This project felt a bit overwhelming at times.

A few weeks ago, I took a week off of work and just stayed home with my family.  It was laid back and wonderful.  That week I took a good look at the progress I had actually made.  Initially I was going to make this blanket big enough to fit on a twin bed for one of my boys.  However, they have quilts my mother made and my husband and I made fleece tie blankets for them at Christmas too.  So I laid out the blanket as it was and really looked at it.  I hadn't done that in a while because I usually had it folded up so that I could continue working rows.  After looking at it, I realized I could be finished with it if I wanted to be.

I just needed to make that decision.  "It is good, just as it is."

Once I did, I finished the stripe I was working on and then added a darker gray border around the edge.  In one afternoon I had gone from "this will never end" to "this is finished".  My husband immediately took a nap on the couch with it.  My sons argued over who got to use it.  That night, I curled up under it's comfortable weight and warmth it provided.  It's not large enough to fit a bed but it's larger than a regular lap blanket.  It's perfect just as it is.

Are you sensing where I am going with this?  If I can decide that this mammoth project that became an uphill battle to finish is perfect just as it is, can't I decide the same about myself?  I always struggle with changes and goals that I make for myself.  Some of them are easy and attainable, but some of them seem never ending as well.  I don't view this blanket as giving up, rather I think I looked at it with new eyes and realized I was the only one keeping it from being complete and perfect, just as it is.  I'm the only one who keeps myself from seeing that I'm good, just as I am.  I can definitely strive to challenge myself and create a variety of goals but I need to accept me for me.  You should try it.  Accept you for you.

I realize this is just a blanket but it really did make me see that I put up my own road blocks.  I make things harder than they need to be for myself.  I am much too hard on myself.  Sometimes, we just need to look at ourselves with new eyes and say "I am good, just as I am."

Project Neverending Blanket complete!