Thursday, July 28, 2016

A Thursday Afternoon Ramble

Photo Credit: My Mom || A shot she took this very morning. We both leaned out of the way so our shadows wouldn't be in the picture. :) 
I've just finished vacuuming, tidying the kitchen, and delivering the day's laundry. My plans for the evening consist of finishing off our chinese leftovers and going to Bible Study with my sister. While I'm waiting for my sister to get home from work, it seemed like a good idea to sit down with a glass of sweet tea and write a post. This post is going to be what we bloggers call "a stream of consciousness", or "a good old-fashioned ramble", or - if we're feeling especially fancy - "an if we were having coffee together" post.

Grab something to drink and let's settle in for a chat...

I'd like to start off by saying that I've officially been blogging for 10 years now. I started my first blog (which I deleted and am stilllll upset with myself over) after coming back from the leadership camp that changed my life. It was the middle of July in 2006 and I could sense that new things were happening. I wrote about my faith and my life and I'd love to go back and read those words. I was almost 16, had just learned what it really meant to BE a Christian, was starting my job at the coffee shop, and had skipped the trip to visit my Dad for the first time in my life. I blogged from our old Dell in our Family Room turned School Room. I read Molly Piper's blog, Joy the Baker's blog, and a woman named Shannon's blog that I found after she commented on Molly's blog.

With that said...I think it's high time I post about this little space of mine on FB so that people I know in "real life" can read it. My immediate family knows about it (hi, sister and mother of mine!), my brother stops by for the pictures but is the only person who says the title in the right order (hello, sir!) and I have an uncle who reads it (I think he still does), as well as a few friends who've found out about it who read  it (hi, Monica!!!), but I've worked really hard to keep it a secret. It's sooooo much safer that way. One of my goals this year is to SHARE what I write and sharing this space seems like a big part of that.

On a writing note, I found out that literary journals are still in existence and I planned to spend some time this summer writing things to submit to them. I'm still in the researching phase of figuring out what the journals are, what their submission policies are like, and which journals are the right fit for my writing. One article suggested checking out the journals your library has. Mine has none, so that was a bust. I guess I should get moving along with this plan of mine...Do you subscribe to any?

My Mom and I have been watching this show on Acorn TV called "Moving On". She's really good about finding things that I'll be into. We watched the first episode yesterday morning and I did NOT react like she expected me to. After the show was over, we had a lively discussion about which characters we sided with. Needless to say, she was in favor of the Mother and I was with the adult children in principle even though I recognized that their attitudes took things to the extreme. It's a great show and I can see many more discussions coming our way.

Speaking of discussions...My Mom and I are talkers. We can talk about anything for any length of time. Good luck getting a word in if we haven't been together for a while. One of my favorite things about our conversations is that we pretty much always get to the bottom of things. If we are tracking the same scent, it's beautiful. If we're not...Well...You might want to stear clear until we agree to disagree. Either way, I'm always better for our talks. And I think she is too! ;)

That's all for now, I think.

Leave a ramble of your own in the comments! I'd love to read it. :) 




6 comments:

  1. Love that you and your mom are so close and so chatty! So sweet. :)

    And congrats on sharing your blog on Facebook! That's a big step for someone who wants to keep it private! And a HUGE congrats on 10 years of blogging! How awesome! I started around the same age you did (when I was 15) so next year will be 15 years of blogging for me. Crazy how time flies!

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  2. Hi! Storylineblog.com is Donald Miller's blog. I like reading the contributor's articles. Does that count as a literary journal? Oh, I hate that you deleted your old blog! My daughter still has her xanga account. I go back there and read sometimes. It's amazing to see the growth and hear her heart from her teenage years. Only a few real life friends know about my blog. I still don't want it out there. One of the same reasons my instagram is private and I don't Facebook. I'm old. ;) It's great that you and your mom can talk things out and still agree to disagree. We need more of that in this world, especially in churches. OK. That's my rambling comment. Randomness is what I call it.

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  3. How cool to have blogged for ten years--that is SOOOOO amazing and such a huge feat, especially when there are times when it seems easier to stop than keep going (or maybe I'm the only one who feels that way?).

    Anyway, I loved what you had to say about sharing your writing with FB friends. I challenged myself to do that a few years ago and did it. The positive reactions were so rewarding for that step in bravery (especially since the content I share on my blog is pretty personal for this and naturally private introvert over here) but I haven't done it in SO long and it may be about time to do it again.

    Anyway, share, share, share! You have some beautiful photos, thoughts, and words here on this blog that your friends would love to read. :)

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  4. I've been the same way about keeping my blog a secret! My husband and parents knew about it, but that's all. I also started sharing on Facebook recently, and it's been good to get that secret out in the open :)

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  5. I know what you mean about it being scary to share with people we actually know. It's a strange thing, blogging...we'll share our hearts out loud on the internet for any stranger across the world to see, but we're anxious about the people who actually know us in real life to see or read these things we think and feel, because ahhh that's weird! Isn't it weird? I finally made a "blog posts" lists of friends that I felt safe sharing with and started posting on my Facebook that way. Eventually I had some people not on that list see people liking my posts on the blog's FB page, so the list became useless, and by that time I was kind of okay with it. The other day I actually used my blog in an interview and then had a friend from home share it on his FB recommending everyone check it out...yikes! That's the ultimate opposite of what I've ever expected in terms of sharing, but since it was eased into happening it hasn't bothered me so much. Maybe that's the route to go for you!

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  6. Not sure if I'm the Monica you had in mind, but I totally cracked up when I read my name! ;) Too funny! I love your writing and getting to know your perspective on life. :)

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