My Blog

I promised myself, and many of you, that I would blog regularly this year, and as much as my heavy eyes want to lure me to dreamland right now, I am determined to keep that promise to you and to myself.  As I opened the laptop just now, I found a bit of confetti on my keyboard, the paper remains of our family New Years Eve party last night, complete with an aluminum ball and hand-cut confetti.  What a sweet surprise and a little gift of sorts… kind of like a love note or a wedding favor found in a coat pocket from last year.

And so it has begun!  We have been blessed with a new day in a new year and the celebration of a new start.  I love New Year’s Day  for the fire of hope that it brings and for the possibilities that lie ahead.  I try so hard not to look much farther than the day in front of me, because when I do it leads to the next day, the next week, the next month, and my mind is already envisioning the new year ending as quickly as it arrived.

I decided the best way to kick off this year was to start a collecting jar.  It’s not a new idea by any means; one that I found on Pinterest actually, but none-the-less I like it a lot.  It’s a place to collect the sweet reminders of the moments we hope not to forget as the days fly by.  A movie ticket (check!), a bit of confetti (check!), a fortune that grabbed my heart from the Chinese dinner that filled in for a home cooked meal.  Or, maybe it’s just a thought that came and I didn’t want to see it get lost in the shuffle of the everyday.  As I pass through this year, I will keep my eyes wide open and collect these tangible remains of the day to remind me how full my life is.  How each one of them represents a moment of emotion inside of my soul.

It is my hope, my resolution, that this blog become a Ball Jar of my work.  The blessings I experience, the beauty I observe, the emotions that I capture through my photography or the things that I create.    Come join me as I fill this year with adventures.

In the still of the night (also known as when the kids finally go to bed and I start working), I decided to take a break, get out my camera, and play with the snow falling and drifting outside my window… from inside my window.  I wasn’t game for throwing on my snow boots over my jammies and trudging through the blizzard conditions, though I have in the past.  None the less, I had fun and no frost bite!

My daughter was so disappointed with the lack of snow earlier in the week that she decided to make her own paper snowflakes and cover our windows with them.  She had only made one and then got distracted with a letter to Santa. So, this is the lone snowflake that has hung in our house beckoning mother nature to bring more to us.  An invitation of sorts, from the heart of a child, saying “let’s have a party!  Mother nature, you bring the snow and I’ll provide the laughter, giggles, snowballs and sleds, and we can play together.”  I am thankful that Mother Nature was able to come bearing this beautiful gift.

Snow for me is always like a blanket of peace.  When the earth is dry and brown and worn down from the hot summer days and the cold winter.  When it looks it’s worst and is most in need of a beautiful renewal, the snow comes like a white blanket covering up it’s hurt, covering up it’s blemishes and renewing the spirits of those who dwell in it.  It has the power to make us all young again, giving us a spirit of joy, even those whose snow blowers break down resulting in shoveling out the driveway (i.e. the mister).  It reminds me of what God does for us and what we can do for each other during this season.  Maybe that’s why we always wish for a white Christmas.  To have an earthly, tangible reminder of what we are celebrating… the beautiful gift of what God has given to us in Jesus Christ.  The gift of forgiveness, the gift of renewal, of excitement, laughter, kindness and hope.  He’s brought that to us. Let’s bring ourselves out to play, rejoice, and celebrate this amazing gift.