Wordless Wednesday: After School Snack {and a little Brainpop}

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As life has been plotting along lately, Love has been on my mind in all sorts of ways.

How do we love those we love well?  How do I make sure my stubborn daughter knows my love for her?  How do I make sure my little boy feels my love an acceptance for is uniqueness? How do I show hubs love beyond the every day type?  How do I love myself well?

This is also combined with a certain lack of action on my part.  I've felt lazy and unwilling.  There's a need within me to start, but I'm still not sure what it is I want to start.  Words evade the feelings within me, and I'm left wondering where to turn.  As I was weeding my garden yesterday, I began to consider where I invest my time.  I'm mostly proud of how I've prioritized my life in this season.  Very consciously I've been putting those I love first and setting aside the things that aren't fueling me.  This isn't foolproof and there are still places I can improve, but progress is progress.

In March, {March!  Are you kidding me!?} I wrote about the need to pursue passions.  I truly felt that pull, but I was also paralyze by the circumstances of the life I was living.  Pulling the pricker weeds had me contemplating photography again.  It does fuel me.  I enjoy it and I have a soft spot in my heart for the images of my little ones from the times I was often seen with a camera in hand. I still need to get through this frozen time for me; I'm moved to go back to that place I was in March and make a start to pursue those passions.

For the girl who hasn't picked up her camera in months, it's a commitment to knock that off.  To dust it off. To move forward and commit.  To grow and learn again.  To experiment.  To fall in love with it again.  To start.

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. 

Summer Bucket List

Well, it's done!  We've moved several states away from our hometown.  Pretend I wrote some witty and sweet post about the bittersweet nature of this change.  I intended to, and maybe I still will, but if I don't get this bucket list up and running, summer will be over before I know it. :)  Especially considering the kiddos start school on the first of August.  Seriously folks, that gives us only a month!  So in no particular order, here's what we'd like to try and do this summer:


Find our local public library. {I would say participate in the library's summer reading program, but I suspect we've missed the window.}


Swim, lots.


Find a cool museum nearby for kids.


Make my own sushi. {Kiddie sushi for the munchkins and real stuff for us.}


Meet our neighbors. {AKA be more outgoing than I feel.}


Find and use our local Farmer's Market. {Seriously, thank goodness for GPS.  How did people relocate before this technology!}


Organize my pantry. {The kids will LOVE this activity!}


Find some good gluten free local eats. {We already found one, but we're on the lookout for more!}


Write, lots.


Do some creative, outdoor activities that I pinned. {I'm thinking one a week wouldn't be too overly ambitious with the number of boxes that I still need to unpack.}

Biker Girl

Life has been a little on the crazy side lately (more on that later).  There hasn't been much time for photo snapping, much less blogging! When we had the crazy, unseasonably warm weather in March, I snapped these photos of Mia on her new (used) bike.  She thinks she's super fast on it.  And, I love the way she puts the kickstand down each time, despite the fact she still has training wheels.