New beginnings

Recently I've been doing some thinking about what I want this space to look like.  Becoming a mom has obviously changed some things in my schedule and I've felt like I've just been uploading pictures on here, sharing small very small updates about our life, and then uploading more pictures on Facebook.  (Maybe that's why I've run out of photo space?!)  Anyway, I realized the other day I was wasting quite a bit of time posting basically the same pictures in two different places on the internet.  Really that is what Facebook is for (and other random updates) and I want this to be different than Facebook.  I know my original plans when I started this blog almost three years ago was to share what God is teaching me and to share other fun updates about our life.  Obviously, with our expanding family I may not have as much time to share as I would like, but as the New Year rolled around I started thinking through the different areas of my life and this blog is one of them.  I want to be intentional with the down time that I do have and sometimes updating this blog has felt like a burden rather than something I enjoy doing and that's not what I want it to be.

So, I've decided I don't want this blog to be only me posting pictures.  Yes, I will continue to post pictures.  However, I also want to refocus back on my original intent of starting this blog.  Here's what I've been thinking about:

1. Faith. Christianity is a huge part of my life.  Ever since my youth pastor, Heidi, in high school showed me that Christianity is about a relationship and not just something you do on Sundays, I've been forever changed.  God opened my eyes to see Him in a whole new way and I love sharing what He is teaching me.  I seriously am the happiest when I am sitting with a friend, hot cup of coffee in hand, sharing what God's teaching us, how He's changing us, and how we're being challenged in our faith.  That's why I love this space.  Because I can share what God's teaching me. 

2. My boys. Aka Dan and Jake :)  I live with them, so I'm bound to talk about them sometimes.  I will continue to post monthly updates on Jake (yes I know I am due to post the 7 month one!) and share how Dan and I are growing in our marriage.  I love looking back on the funny posts and the sappy ones because it reminds me how incredibly blessed I am.

3. Creativity. So I have a secret.  I am not a creative person. Ok, that's not really a secret for anyone.  But I really want to be.  I've realized having a little one around makes it difficult to do any DIY projects (or just paint trim in your entryway...) but there is something in me that still loves to *try* to take creative pictures, test out new recipes, turn our home into a comfortable, cute place to live, create new outfits, or even journaling.  I've realized that I've put creativity in a box and assumed that you're only really, truly creative if you get a degree in photography, interior design, or something artsy.  With my type A personality, those degrees were far from the list of talents the Lord gifted me with.  Mathematics was at the top- how boring does that sound?  But, I'm slowly realizing that being creative is different for each person and it means finding the beauty in everything and giving glory to God throughout it.  I don't want to begrudgingly decorate our home to impress other people, I want to carefully take time to make this place our own home and thank God during the process.  I don't want to take pictures so I can showcase my cool pictures but I want to take them because I find joy in picking up my camera and taking pictures of the beauty around me (yes even here in the northwest suburbs of Chicago).  And I want this space to be a place where I can share that. 

So those are my top 3 goals.  The list person in me has 5 other things I wanted to write, but 3 is enough.  I am sure it is more than enough :)  So, here's to a new year of intentional blogging.  It may be more sporadic than I would like, but when I do blog it will be because I'm excited to sit down and do it and not feel forced to post something.  So, thanks for reading this little blog and sharing in a small part of our life :) And if you have a blog- I love reading about your life, too :)