Back in the Saddle

Last night, I invited some new(ish) friends from my new neighborhood for a craft night.  Inspired by Theresa's blog posts and tales of craft nights past, I decided to ask a couple of gals over for a couple of reasons:

(1) It was time to retire my Christmas wreath.  I tried to convince myself that it was fine to still have up, especially since it's technically still winter.  I mean, it's not red and green, right?  Nice wintery colors?  I was lying to myself, though.  If it includes ornaments, it's a Christmas wreath.  Plus, even my dad commented on it when they pulled up to the house.  If Dad noticed, it's really bad.

(2) Oh, Pinterest.  I just loved so many of the wreaths I was seeing that I actually thought I might be able to make my own.  I needed the accountability of the group, though.  I know myself a little too well.  I knew that without the other ladies coming over I'd never buy the stuff.  And, even if I did actually purchase it, I'd never actually  make the wreath without the peer pressure.  Wouldn't the Christmas wreath be even more embarrassing after Spring Break?

 

(3) The knowledge that my mother possessed a mammoth amount of felt.  Seriously, there's enough felt here for a year's worth of projects! 

(4) "Girl Time."  We get together with our neighborhood pals fairly regularly, but it's hard to chat with 5 LOUD children running around the house.  Some children less community time seemed like just the ticket.

And, I'm so glad I brought it up.  I enjoyed pulling out my crafty side a little.  Sure, I burned my fingers more than a few times with the glue gun.  Yes, now I have to find somewhere to store that Christmas wreath and a gargantuan amount of felt.  But, the time with friends made me realize something else.  I'm not sure I would be writing this right now without a particular conversation.

You see, I have crafty-potential.  It's possible for me to create nice crafty items, but I'm not particularly craft driven.  I don't long to use a glue gun or repurpose milk caps.  Throughout the evening, I came to realize, through much teasing by my mother, that I'm craft-lazy.  I could do it, but I don't.  Yet this wasn't my a-ha.

 

Later in the evening, after one friend had headed home, Jaina said to me, "So, you don't like dancing {SO true! Unless you're talking the no-one-is-watching-and-I'm-singing-into-a-hairbrush variety} and you're not into crafts.  Other than reading {So true again}, what do you love to do?"

Hmmm... That's such a good question.  I'm not into crafts.  Don't get me wrong, I'm pleased as punch with my new spring wreath.  I'm happy to participate, but I'm probably always be a little craft-lazy. :)  I've been kind of an I'm-too-busy-bump-on-the-log lately.  I didn't have an answer for Jaina immediately.  I said a long "Well..." and thought for a bit.  What do I love to do?  What is just a favorite pastime?  It's nothing I've been doing lately, that's for sure.  And then it hit me... what do I love?  Photography.  And writing. 

I started to show Jaina my picture-a-day blogs  that I used to keep.  I started to feel a little sad that I didn't keep it up last year, which would have captured all kinds of memories of our new life here.  She ooh-ed and ahh-ed enough to make me feel vaguely happy, but I realized that doing this...recording the day to day in life... makes me truly happy.  Looking at the memory card on my camera is depressing: a couple of pictures from a field trip, Halloween, Christmas, and the Circus.  Really, Sara?  Really?  Those are great moments, but they're not THE moments that I treasure the most.

So, after I hung my wreath outside, I sat down here to write for a bit.  It's quite a bit wordier than I intended, but I'm hopping back into the saddle of the things that have made me happy in the past.  I look forward to engaging in the kind of creativity that lights me up.  I look forward to capturing the memories that really matter to me.