You Won't Find This Here

The first step to getting back on the blog-wagon was to get back in the habit of jotting down ideas for posts whenever they popped into my head. It created for some weird to do lists - more coffee, shower,  call Mom, How I get My Life Together on Sunday... (that's an excerpt from a camp list, I only have to write shower on my to list from May-August, the rest of the time it comes naturally).

I also started thinking about the things I wouldn't blog about, and realized that a lot of them are pretty popular topics. Which is maybe another factor that contributed to my blogging break. I (subconsciously) felt like I didn't fit into any of the niches - either the category didn't apply to me - you've got to have kids to be a Mommy Blogger! Or I wasn't interested in that particular topic - I'm not a runner. 

So while I'll 'never say never' here's some topics it's pretty unlikely you'll be reading about around here. 

Diet/Fitness 

I operate under the 'everything in moderation' principle. I enjoy pop and I enjoy water. I like BBQ steak and I think veggie burgers can be delicious. Sometimes I eat three well balanced meals and drink water. Sometimes it's 6:00 p.m. and I realize the only nutrition I've gotten in the last 48 hours is from coffee and bagels. 

Blogging

This is a hobby not my career. I have no idea how to have the best SEO or get Nordstrom to send me free clothes...I've never even been inside a Nordstrom. I'm absolutely open to doing the occasional sponsored post, participating in link ups or exchanges but this isn't how I make my money. I'm not going to lose sleep over page clicks or "my brand".

Fashion

I spend 4-5 months of the year wearing some combination of jogging pants, neon Nike running shorts, tie-dye, camoflauge, plaid shirts and an array of hoodies. Sometimes I wear the same combination of those clothes for a couple days in a row. I'm happiest in leggings and hoodies, if you're happiest in leather pants and corsets all the power to you. 

(To be clear - the other 6-7 months of the year I dress like a grown up. Fun Fact : sometimes campers/camper families don't recognize me in the "real world".) 

Singleness

I'll almost certainly blog about my interactions on the dating scene and the colourful cast of characters I would have no idea exist in the world if it weren't for dating apps. I'm not going to blog about my "plight as a single gal in my late 20s". It's too easy to go deep in the rabbit hole of being unhappy, being self-conscious and feeling not good enough. I know that's not true. I'm a catch! 

Travel

I can totally get on board with fun weekend getaways every few months and maybe a bigger vacation during the year. I have no plans to start galavanting all over the world on a bi-monthly basis anytime soon. And when I do travel my focus is going to be on spending time with whoever I'm travelling with (I definitely won't be travelling solo!) and taking photos for scrapbooking but not for blogging. I'm happy to hear about your adventures in Bali but you won't be hearing about mine. 

Do you have things on your 'No-Blog List'? I'm also hyper sensitive to what kind of personal information I'm putting out in the world. Which is sometimes frustrating when I plan on posting a photo or two and realize after the fact they have super identifying features. But it's also not the end of the world and it's good motivation to take lots of photos so there's lots to choose from!

Monday's Matter #3

As always let's start with some of my recent favourite reads. Renee from Mulling Over My Morning Coffee wrote this short devotional about how things don't always go according to our plan. Elissa wrote about her choice to take a nap. And Callie shared her thoughts about old school blogging. 

I'm on my third Word of the Week and I love switching it up every week. My original plan was to wait until I had made it through at least four words but I'm only starting the third week and I'm already itching to share. So far I've used Abide & Flow and this week I'm working on Spark. 

Even though this is the first Valentine's Day in two years that I've been single I am the most excited about celebrating. Mostly because I get to celebrate with twenty 5-8 year olds! I found the cutest fun patches online and ordered one for each of them (and the other leaders). My plan is to make little tags to serve as Valentines and they will be adorable. Plus, mailing Valentine's Day cards because that's a fun thing to do too. Maybe it's a consumer holiday but for someone who's love language (aside from chips & dip) involves words of affirmation Valentine's is my jam. 

For as long as I can remember I've been labeled as 'shy'. And it's only in the last few years that I've kind of embraced that label. BBC published this article about Celebrating Shyness  and it completely resonated with me. I think it's worth a read regardless of whether you consider yourself shy or not. I think it's hard for people who aren't shy to understand shy doesn't mean rude or standoffish. And I also think it's important to designate the difference between being shy and having seriously severe social anxiety. 

It also seems fitting to share my favourite Obama article, Obama After Dark. I happened to read this article while I was at camp and I related to so much of it, especially the no good decisions part. There are days when selling plain white t-shirts in size medium on a beach in Hawaii sounds like a viable career choice. 

I'm still in the waiting phase of things unfolding with the job search. And realistically it will probably be the end of January before I have a solid plan, but at least the end is (hopefully) in sight. With that in mind my quote of the week is from the amazing Julia Child. I assume she was talking about food, but I think the sentiment is transferable, especially after last week's Patience Make Pancakes revelation. 

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Monday's Matter #2

My weekend looked a lot like everyone else weekend. I finished up the last of my Christmas shopping and had lunch with mom. I spent Saturday night working on a service project for church and on Sunday we put up the Christmas tree and went to bed at a reasonable time. Since none of that is particularly noteworthy I'm going to go ahead and continue with the Monday's Matter tradition.

1. Let's start off with some of my favourite blog posts lately. Rachel wrote about The Importance of Feeding People Well and had me nodding along in agreement as I read. Alyssa shared how she made A Simpler 2016 and really motivated me to start thinking about what changes I'm going to make in 2017. Louise wrote about Comparing Apples to Oranges and it was a reminder that one of my worst habits lately has been comparing what's happening with me to what's happening with everyone else.

2. I'm working on creating my 52x52 List for 2017 but for whatever reason it's not nearly as easy as it was last year. I have a grand total of 10 things on my list right now...so that's going to need some work. I think I'm struggling with it this year because everything seems so unknown. I don't know where I'll be or any other details of the upcoming year. Last year I at least had an outline. This year I've got nothing.

3. Every so often Stuff Mom Never Told You does an episode that really shifts my mind into over drive. Lately they've done two in particular that have left me with lots to think about like this one on Adoption. And this one about working in the non-profit world was one part comforting (it's not just my experience!) and one part frustrating (why is this okay?). 

4. I've been really into grilled cheese lately. I'm not entirely sure where this new found love came from because typically I am totally over grilled cheese and sick of eating them all time time. This is a true testament for the food situation at camp this past summer, it's like I have a quota of grilled cheese per year and I'm just trying to make up for lost time. 

5. I started the process of setting up my Happy Planner for 2017 and it turns out it's more of a challenge than I was anticipating. I love the idea of vertical layout, but I'm not sold yet. I'm hoping it's a learning curve and once I get adjusted I'll be planning like the best of them. That's an exaggeration, there's no way I'm going to start spending $20/week on planner sticker kits. 

6. This is the quote I'm working on keeping in my mind this week:

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It's a busy (this is going to me my non-word for 2017, I've started cringing every time I see it written)  full week with a lot of family and friends and commitments. And I'm going to work on not letting all of that over shadow the reason we're celebrating. Doing my best to be patient with others (and myself), showing love and being gentle in the days to come. 

Friday Facts of Life

{one}

It's no secret that 2016 was not a good year for reading for me. I set out to read 52 books this year and  just finished my 8th. I'm attributing part of this to the fact that last December I got a new phone and never got around to downloading the OverDrive app, which is what I had been using to access ebooks from my library. Earlier this week I re-downloaded the app and I've already finished one book with a dozen waiting in my queue. Here's to many more hours spent reading actual literature and not browsing Reddit.

{two}

Via MAMBI

Me & My Big Ideas released a whole bunch of new sticker books for the Happy Planner this week and I'm itching to get my hands on at least two of them. I already have two and I am kind of in love with them. They are the perfect blend of practical and cute, I'm eagerly awaiting the week of December 26 when I can start using my 2017 planner. I am having some regrets about my choice of Happy Planner, I'm thinking I should have held out and went with the coil bound Erin Condren knockoffs by Recollections? (I love the look of the ECs but in order to get one from there to here I'd need to spend about $100 and there's no way I'm spending that kind of money on a stack of paper.) But what's done is done and I'm sure I can work with what I've got for the year.

{three}

I didn't hear anything this week about making it through to the second round of interviews...so I'm not really sure how to interpret that one. It seems strange that I wouldn't get an e-mail indicating it was a no thanks...but they also indicated they were planning on doing second round interviews on Friday (today)...so I'm really shrugging my shoulders on that one. There is another posting for a job that isn't camp related, but is much more closer to home and sort of in line with my skills. And maybe that will be the ticket? Ugh.

{four}

I've been debating about choosing One Little Word for 2017. I know I won't be officially signing up for Ali Edward's class this year, I don't need to spend $40 to chose a word. I wasn't overly interested in the community and I would be fine with using the same monthly prompts from this year. The words that have been rolling around in my head are 'Still', 'Calm', 'Whole' and 'Spark'. I'm not feeling particularly passionate about any of them though. In years past I've chosen Love,  Brave & Rise. Do you choose a word for the year? If so what do you do with it?

{five}

It started snowing on Sunday and hasn't stopped all week. It's -20 out with the wind and it's not even winter yet. This is not a Friday favourite, but it does seem to be a fact of life.

{six}

In the spirit of 'out with the old, in with the new' I've been cleaning up my blog routine. I've gone through and deleted a bunch of draft posts because let's be real I was never going to finish that 'Friday Five' from 2013. I've also been cleaning up my Blog Feed, unfollowing some folks who I never read anymore or who haven't blogged in more than a year. Which, side note, am I the only one who feels sad and immense curiosity when bloggers who I followed for years stop blogging? There are about half a dozen that I just can't bare to 'unfollow' because I still have hope they'll reappear one day and I don't want to miss that. It also means I've made room for some new bloggers. So who are you following that I need to check out? I would love to find some single, late twenty somethings like myself but I'm as long as every post it's trying to sell me something or tell me how to build my blog followers I'm open to any suggestions.

Linking up here and here. 

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Mondays Matter #1

I'm going to let you in on a secret...I kind of love Mondays. I like beginnings and possibility and I'm never more organized or prepared for the week ahead than I am on Monday. When I was in university a friend and I had a tradition where we emailed each other every Monday. It came about as camp for that summer was wrapping up and we started to talk about how to make the camp magic all year. We would write a little update post to each other and mention a few things we were nervous or worried about for the upcoming week and I always looked forward to having that e-mail to read when I finished class on Monday. In Blogland Mondays are for weekend recaps with lots of photos and tales of adventure...except that my weekends aren't always full of exciting experiences. 

So I'm going to try something a little different and bring back Mondays Matter for those weeks when my weekends aren't particularly noteworthy and I still want to blog. A little bit of reflection on Monday morning to start the week off on the right foot. 

1. Maybe it's just me but it feels like blogging has turned a corner and lately there have been some pretty awesome posts that are focused on real life and not shilling products. These three in particular have still given me food for thought almost two weeks later:  While You're Waiting by Alyssa, Be Thankful For Your Choices by M. and What's Changed by Erin.

2. Earlier this week I was sorting through some things and trying to be a more organized human and while I was trying to jam multiple 12x12 scrapbook albums on a shelf that I assume measures 11.99x11.99 I did some quick math in my head and realized that camp has been part of my life for 19 years. I spent 10 years as a camper, followed by 4 years as a counsellor and summer director and just finished my fifth year in an assistant director position. Those 19 years span five different camps and at least six different job titles and have given me endless tales of (mis)adventure. And even if this most recent job opportunity doesn't pan out I still am forever grateful that I have a passion and know what it is without a doubt.

3. I re-watched the final season of How I Met Your Mother this weekend for the first time since it aired and I'm still undecided about how I feel about the ending. I am decided that I'm not much of a Lily fan and that I would marry Ted Mosby in a heartbeat. 

4. I'm trying not to get myself all out of sorts for my interview on Thursday but I'm not having a lot of success. I recognize that it's not the be all and end all, but I'm also just so ready to move on and be done with the uncertainty. 

5. I have studied every news article, watched every YouTube video, viewed every photo and read every tweet produced by/about the organization I want to work with, I hope it pays off but there's really no guarantee. If nothing else I can tell you that I'm confident these are my people based on the appearance of a creepy sun logo peeking through on one of their buildings, a hilarious kijiji ad offering to trade excess furniture for program supplies and a shed repurposed for program space.  

6. I need to start work on 2017's 52x52 list, I've completed slightly less than half of 2016's list, hopefully there's time to squeeze in a few more but I'm not overly hung up on it. It was my first attempt at such a project and I was kind of making up the rules as I went along. Next year I will do a much better job at keeping track of things and making the list a little more balanced.

7. Last year I only mailed a few Christmas cards but this year I'm going to up my game. I'm not going totally overboard but I let myself buy a new package of cards as long as I promised myself to mail all 16 cards so that's a thing that needs to happen this week. 

8. Mondays Matter emails always ended with a quote for the week, so I'm going to keep with that sentiment and end with this one I came across last week:

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Blogging, Crafting & Adulting

Anyone else feel like they blinked and all of a sudden it was Friday?! Tuesday evening we had an 85th birthday party for my great-aunt, Wednesday I helped with set up for an event at church this weekend, yesterday I spent the day making cards for the craft table at said church event and today I need to finish those up and bake some cookies for the bake table. 

The Back to Blogging Challenge wrapped up this week and Alyssa compiled a list of some of her favourite responses. I was pretty excited that one of mine made the list and I loved getting to read some of her other favourites that I had missed over the course of the challenge. 

And in other blog related news I hit 100 followers on Bloglovin'!

I totally recognize that 100 is peanuts compared to a lot of bloggers but 100 was the number I wanted to reach this year based on my 52 in 52 list. So it's a milestone worth celebrating.

I had grand plans to take lots of cool photos of the Super Moon but it was so foggy that that my ambition was short lived. This week it's really started to feel like fall, it's been rainy and foggy and when it's not actively rainy it still feels damp. I've gotten to wear my rain boots on a daily basis though so I'm okay with the weather. 

Last night I made a quick trip to Michaels and determined that the only thing better than a good browsing session at Michaels is when the weather outside dictates you get to stroll the aisles in your rain boots. I was on a specific mission since the Project Life albums were on sale for buy one, get one free. I scooped up two of those to use for 2017, in 2016 I ended up using one album to document life monthly and then another that I did session by session during the summer. I (probably) won't do it exactly the same in 2017 but I think I am a two albums per year documenter which was a happy surprise. 

Another happy surprise is a follow up to something I mentioned on Monday regarding a job application I was working on this past weekend. I got everything finished and sent off and yesterday got a reply along with some potential interview dates. I'm still a little  a lot overwhelmed and panicked about the thoughts of moving across the country but it's not worth getting myself worked up over until it's an actual possibility. Keep the prayers & good vibes coming through because it is an awesome position and I'm uncharacteristically optimistic about the whole thing.  

I was supposed to be at a Guiding event all day Saturday followed by a lot of Guiding on Sunday but the event on Saturday was cancelled due to poor enrolment I might brave the mall and finish off my Christmas shopping. I ordered a few things online so I'm keeping my fingers crossed they get here on time but figuring that I should be safe since I ordered from within Canada and there's still over a month to go before things need to be under the tree. This is the first time I've done any sort of 'bulk' online shopping and it kind of makes me feel like I've unlocked another level of adulting! 

Linking up here & here. 

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Back To Blogging: Unpublished Posts

I have 41 posts saved in my draft folder. A few of them are posts for later this week and a few are posts that are essentially idea dumps that I should go ahead and delete, but most are posts that I started writing and either never finished or never felt confident enough to push publish.

Ten Things I've Never Done (And Probably Never Will)

I don't always relate well to people in my age bracket because there are just some activities that do not appeal to me. And sometimes I have unpopular opinions when it comes to what constitutes a good time. I haven't published this one because I worry it makes me sound super judgemental even though that's not the intention. 

Work Boots

You can tell a lot about a person by what kind of shoes a person wears. I've always known this but I kind of forgot it for awhile and now that I've been reminded it's an observation worth sharing. 

Ten Things I Won't Give You Advice About

I definitely have a lot of opinions on a lot of things, but that doesn't mean I expect everyone to have the same opinions. People should do what works for them and just because something works for me doesn't make me qualified to tell other people that's the way they should do things. (Refer to next  unpublished post.)

Experts & Extremists

This started off as a post about the onslaught of so called 'experts' in the world these days and the opinion that if you're not extreme about your opinions it's not valid. Again, it took on more of judgey tone than I intended so I never went back and finished writing or editing it to make it less harsh.

Mac & Cheese Recipe

I didn't even know this was buried in there. There was a time when I planned on blogging a lot more about food and recipes but I feel intimidated by all the Pinterest perfect meal posts so I never did take photos and finish this post. Maybe the next time I make mac & cheese I'll snap some photos and hit the publish. 

Bloom Where You're Planted

This post isn't super relevant anymore, I wrote it last spring when I was having some serious doubts about doing another year at camp. I never published it because it felt a little too personal but I should really print it and stick it into my notebook journal.

Weird Things People Have Asked About My Career Path

This was inspired after someone asked if I had ever considered applying to work at the bank. I'm not even sure where I was going with this, it's an entertaining idea but needs a lot of work before it sees the light of the internet. 

It's Alright To Be Itty Bitty

Everyone wants to be an expert or to run the show and that's not something I'm interested in. I don't need (or want) to live in a big city or be CEO or have the best and newest of everything. I actually really like this post and would like to figure out a way to finish it because right now it's a lot of rambling and the point gets lots. 

On Waiting

Sometimes I feel like all I do is wait and have patience and while I try to be a really patient person sometimes waiting is exhausting. Especially when it's a matter of waiting on other people. Writing this post just made me feel defeated so I abandoned it and forgot about it's existence. 

Project Life Updates

There are about six of these posts where I intended to share my Project Life spreads and write about what I've learned in the process. 

Linking up with Alyssa for the Back to Blogging Challenge!

Friday Favourites: Bandwagon Edition

Today's edition of Friday Favourites isn't anything groundbreaking but it is five things that have been my favourites this week. 

{one}

This Is Us I know I'm not the only one who has declared this the best TV show to premier in a really long time. And to be honest I'm not even sure what it is that makes it so great, I tuned into the first episode because teen movies of the early 2000s left be with a deep love of Mandy Moore and I just like to see what she's up to now. I'm genuinely interested to see where things are going with this show. Beth is my favourite character so far but I also curious to see where they are going with Kate's storyline.  

{two}

Me And My Big Ideas

The Happy Planner. Last year I jumped on the Project Life train and never looked back. At the same time I was busy admiring all of the planner gear and convincing myself that I could only start one new project at a time. Now that 2017 in upon us and I've found my groove with Project Life I let myself go ahead and buy a Happy Planner when they were on sale at Michael's a couple of weeks ago. So now I've been researching all the ways people organize their lives using those handy dandy little books and trying to figure out what method is going to work for me. 

{three}

Blogging. After being totally disheartened by all the sponsored posts and 'Pinnable' content in blogland I took a long break from the blog scene. It was a happy coincidence that it also happened to be around camp time when blogging tends to go on the back burner anyway. I wasn't sure if I was ever going to come back to the blog but over the past week and a half I've cleaned up my Bloglovin' feed, found some bloggers who were still blogging about daily life without telling anyone else how to live theirs and am feeling a little more passionate about being part of the blogworld again. 

{four}

Netflix. I go through seasons with Netflix and by that I mean from April-September when camp is in full swing I don't really have time to watch Netflix and I certainly don't have the internet connection required to use Netflix. So I cancel my subscription. Last year I was working so much in the winter that I didn't bother to re-subscribe but it's currently October and I have nothing but time on my hands so I signed myself back up and have been happily re-watching The Office, being pleasantly surprised by how many more Disney movies have been added and exploring all of the weird and wonderful documentaries available. This excitement will probably wear off in about 6-8 weeks once I've re-watched and watched all the things I'm interested in watching. For now though it's a favourite thing. 

{five}

Thanksgiving. It's a Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada! And while I don't have much enthusiasm for turkey dinner (we have turkey dinner every week at camp on the last night of the session) I do love mashed potatoes & gravy and stuffing and of course my grandmother's pie (definitely not a part of the camp menu). I'm looking forward to the general chaos of a big family meal, getting my camera out and taking some photos and enjoying the general fall festivities.

I'm linking up here, here and here. 

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#goals

In the words of Mulan, "let's get down to business". 

October Goals:

1. Finish Project Life album for camp. 

In a quest to practice better self-care this year at camp I took more photos during sessions and then between session breaks printed photos and made spreads. It worked really well and it's something I'll almost certainly do again in the future. Inevitably, about half way through the summer I fell behind because I was spending breaks doing things. At this point I have about two weeks left of camp to finish and mostly it's adding journalling and embellishments. 

2. Get caught up with 'everyday' Project Life Album (April - September)

I knew this was going to be a problem when I first came up with the plan to do a separate camp album. In January I started my Project Life album using the monthly format but then did more of a weekly format during the summer in my camp album and didn't do anything in the album I started in January. I sort of have a game plan in mind using leftover photos from each week (I almost always printed too many) adding in a few extras and calling it a day. 

3. Organize & De-Stash Project Life/Scrapbooking/Planner supplies.

I am 100% on the Project Life bandwagon and can't imagine going back to 'traditional' scrapbooking. That means I have a lot of 12x12 papers that are just sitting around. Thanks to PLers on YouTube I got the idea to cut down some of those 12x12 papers into PL pocket sizes. I'll keep some large sheets because they come in handy for other crafty endeavours but for the most part I have no need for those big papers. Since I've enjoyed the Project Life bandwagon so much I've decided that in 2017 I'm also going to jump on the Happy Planner bandwagon! So I'd like to sort through all of my stuff and separate it into Project Life, Planner and General Crafting categories. This might be a bit of a lofty goal but we'll see what happens. 

4. Finish 2 books.

I am 75% through one I started in July about the FLDS but then put it down in favour of something a little lighter. I need to finish that one plus another one that I started and didn't finish because I got distracted re-watching How I Met Your Mother. 

5. Map out NaNoWriMo.

..2016 is the year, friends.

6. Take photos during Thanksgiving, Spark Camp & Friendsgiving.

I have lots of fun stuff planned for October this upcoming weekend is Thanksgiving and then I have a plan free weekend followed by a weekend of Spark Camp and then hopefully the next weekend a Friendsgiving weekend with H. & R.. And circling back to the getting caught up with Project Life I've learned it's much easier to stay caught up when you have photos to use! 

7. Publish Blog Posts!

I searched high and low for a 'Blogtober' link up of some sort since I missed out on Bailey Jean's Blogtember but I didn't find anything so I'm just going to make things happen on my own. It's highly unlikely (and impossible at this point) that I'll blog everyday in October but the plan is to make more of an effort and at least press the publish button a few times a week. 

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Pressing The 'Reset' Button

I've been home from camp for three days now. Typically at this point in my post-camp recovery I'm still catching up on sleep, working on wading through the mountain of laundry and sorting through the bags of miscellaneous items I acquired over the summer. This year has been different though, which is fitting because this summer was different. 

From the beginning we struggled to find staff and keep them - we lived the first couple of weeks without a head cook and we went through what felt like a never ending stream of counsellors. It was a lot to juggle. And most of the time I felt like I was not being a very good juggler. Ironically in the lead up to this summer I spent more time than ever before figuring out how to juggle work and life and work but so much of the summer was spent just trying to survive that a lot of that went out the window. 

I think it all worked out for the best though. I made a lot of good choices this summer, early on I broke up with J. (it was a long time coming) and later on I went ahead and didn't make a decision I knew I would regret farther along down the road. In other exciting news both H. & R. moved back to this side of the country which makes my heart very happy. And a job I've had my eye on for awhile has been posted and if things go the way I'd like them to go I'll get to start 2017 with a shiny new job. That might be getting a little ahead of myself though and there's a lot of (flaming) hoops to jump through between now and that becoming a reality. 

For now I'm going to get back into the blogging groove and first up is trying to figure out how the new Bloglovin' works so I can get caught up with all the blogs I didn't read this summer. 

Losing Your Niche

When I first started blogging I immediately found myself surrounded by dozens of bloggers who were in the same stage of life. They had just finished university/college and were entering the grown up world or they were a year or two into their first grown up job and a few were still in school figuring out what it was they were going to do when they graduated.

Fast forward four years later and all those bloggers have either stopped blogging or have started blogging in a different niche. They've become wedding bloggers, mommy bloggers, fitness bloggers, blogger bloggers and while I still enjoy reading some of those blogs it's become more about the blogger than their content. 

All that to say that lately blogland has been a lonely place. And I'm not really sure what comes next. 

I don't particularly feel like abandoning the blog and I have no plans to start blogging about blogging, fitness, parenting or marriage. 

It's about this time of year when my blogging gets put way, way, way back on my priority list because there's so much to do surrounding camp and then of course once I get to camp the internet is pretty spotty. 

I'm not too sure what the point of this post is but I felt like I needed to write something and share a little bit about where my head is right now. 

Ten On Tuesday - Posts I Haven't Published

There was a time when I never had more than six half written blog posts sitting in my drafts. I currently have 39 posts waiting to be finished or edited so in the spirit of Karli's Ten on Tuesday link up I present to you the title of ten of those posts along with a brief synopsis of what I was planning on writing about.

Ten Things On My Mind

I identify as being a multi-tasker which means I generally have at least ten thoughts bouncing around in my head. This was originally going to be my post for today, and then most of my thoughts were related to trying to be be patient and weren't necessarily an accurate representation of my usual sate of mind.

Bloom Where You're Planted

I first came across this phrase a few years ago. I think it was on a Mormon blog about preparing for their Young Women's Program, but I can't really remember. I'm not Mormon but the concept stuck with me. Last year I found a sticker with that phrase and stuck it to my clipboard in plain sight and this time of year when flowers are starting to push through the soil I think about it even more. 

Experts & Extremists

I'm not sure how it happened or why it happened but it seems like everyone and their dog needs to be an expert on something these days. And if they're not declaring themselves an expert on the topic they seem to be an extremist on the matter. I have a pretty strong belief and value system but that doesn't mean I think my way is the only way. This ever growing society of experts and extremists has made the world a little more hostile to each other, which is not what we need. 

Plans & Progress

One Year Plans, Two Year Plans, Ten Year Plans...I've got them all. And some of them I've made progress on and others I've changed my mind about how I want life to look. 

It's Alright To Be Itty Bitty

Small is an adjective I use to describe almost everything in my life. Small town, small statute, small voice...and in a society where bigger is better sometimes being small is hard, but I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Day in the Life

This is self-explanatory. I love reading other blogger's Day in the Life posts and I always mean to write my own but in the four years I've been blogging I think I've only ever finished one. I'd like to make this more of a priority and complete one every six months or so. 

Prayer Journalling

Blogging is great but it's not the same as putting pen to paper. I always have a regular notebook journal to write out my thoughts but I also always have a sketch book. I use my sketchbook to doodle, write quotes and verses and prayer requests. 

Things I've Never Done (And Probably Never Will)

There are some things that the vast majority of the population does on a regular basis that I have no interest in doing and have never done before. One of those things include getting a mani/pedi which I think might get be kicked out of blogland.

Confessions

I always have a Confession post in my drafts. I usually add to it as things happen and when I feel like I have enough content for a post I link up with Kathy's Humpday Confessions.

Weird Questions People Have Asked About My Job

I had a running list of weird things people have asked me about my job working in the camp industry. And then a few weeks ago some well meaning person asked if I had ever applied to work at the bank. After that doozy I was a little lost for words.

What posts do you have sitting unfinished in your draft folder?

Many Monday Things

I had good intentions of sharing five on Friday but I had a terrible nights sleep on Thursday and then Friday just kind of got away from me. I worked all weekend so nothing to report there, so we'll back track to Friday and share a bunch of things I meant to share then.

{one}

Happy Leap Day! As Leap Day William would say "real life is for March". 

I miss 30 Rock. 

{two}

I requested my first cheque from Checkout 51, I've been using the app on and off for over two years. I'm trying to get better about using the stuff I have because it would take a year of rain for me to use up all the things I've been 'saving for a rainy day'. So I went ahead and cashed out and am planning on doing it more frequently from here on out. I love collecting points but then I feel guilty about spending them...it's weird. One of these days I'm going to go on quite the Shopper's Drug Mart shopping spree. 

{three}

After taking a few weeks off I participated in Susannah's Solidarity Sisters group this month. I was paired with Shannon from Sincerely Shannon and really enjoyed getting to know her. The month kind of got away from us but I hope we are able to stay in touch and maybe collaborate on something in March.

{four}

March Madness. It's happening, not in the traditional college basketball sense (I mean, I know that's happening too but that's not the one I'll be involved with.) My March Madness involves (maybe) my last month of the office job before camp starts (or it could extend into May Madness we'll see how that plays out). Plus, getting back to work on my 52 in 52 list stay tuned for more details on that tomorrow. 

{five}

I'm searching for a new notebook and I would really like to find one with a hardcover, spiral bound and it would be great if the pages were grid/graph paper. Does anyone know if such a thing exists? It also needs to exist in Canada because there's no way I'm spending $100 on a notebook which is inevitably what it would cost to order from the states, factor in the exchange rates and pay for shipping. 

{six}

The internet is full of Oscar references today and I don't understand any of them. I didn't see a single Oscar nominated movie and I am completely indifferent as to who wore an expensive outfit and took home a little gold man. It's just as well though because it means I will spend less time perusing Facebook/Twitter/Instagram and more time catching up on all the blog posts I missed last week. 

{seven}

My office job is pretty mundane and I don't interact with clients/customers so I listen to a lot of podcasts as I work. I still love my favourites The Vinyl Cafe and Grown Ups Read Stuff They Wrote As Kids but I've also been branching out and have discovered a few more that are now a must listen. Camp Code fulfils my love of talking about camp while I listen I scribble down ideas or make note of something I want to think about more. Night Time is kind of a fun mystery podcast that shares stories about local mysteries, I originally started listening just for the Oak Island episode but liked it so much I went back and downloaded the other episodes. My most favourite new discovery is Brining Up Betty. It's a podcast targeting towards special needs parents but it is so informative and fun and real. I would love to hear some more podcast recommendations. I like ones that are educational and family friendly (that's my subtle way of saying I don't like listening to people discuss their wild partying adventures). 

Tomorrow I'm getting back on the mostly goal setting wagon! 

Happy Blogiversary!

Today I'm celebrating four years of blogging in this little space on the internet. To celebrate I thought I'd share some four themed facts and observations I've made over the past four years. 

Four Blogs I've been following since the beginning:

- Hugs and Lattes

- Kelly's Korner

- Rebekah & Co. 

- 34 Magnolia Street

Four Blogs I've found recently:

- Sincerely Shannon

- Whitehall & Rose

- My Favourite Adventure

- All The Joys

Four popular posts:

- Project Projet Life 2016

- #onebigtruth 

- Things I've Cried About This Week

- Chicken Strips & Groundhogs

Four Things I've Learned:

- People are crazy.  There will always be someone who thinks they should be telling you what to do.

- You need to do what makes you happy, not necessarily what makes other people happy.

- Respect for other people and their lifestyle and belief system goes along way.

- People love a bandwagon. 

Four Favourite Things About Blogging

- Blogging gives me an incentive to do things, take pictures and document life.

- Meeting people  women from all over the world (although mostly the US).

- It inspires me to try DIYs, contemplate hard questions and shift my perspectives.

- It's a hobby that perfectly balances my introverted-ness but also my tiny little extrovert. 

It's a little strange to think that I've been blogging here for four whole years but when you stop and think about it a lot of things about blogging are a little strange. And I wouldn't have it any other way! 

Stuff & Things

I have been in a blogging slump this week. Every morning I click through my Bloglovin' feed and think about writing a post. Every evening I scroll through Bloglovin' again and think about writing a post. Ultimately I never quite get around to putting words on a blank template.

Usually after scrolling through posts I feel inspired to write but this week, I won't lie, I just feel disappointed and sad. I'm tired of seeing gift lists and home tours and holiday party outfits and $100 stocking stuffers. Christmas in Blogland has been making me feel rather Grinchy so I've just been avoiding the place. Which isn't the solution. The solution is to remind myself everyone is blogging for a different reason and keep focused on documenting my December.

After being on the wait list since August I finally got The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up this weekend! I'm about 1/4 done the book and I have re-organized (and decluttered) my clothing but so far I haven't felt anything super life changing. What she says makes sense, but there's nothing (so far) in the book that I haven't already read on a Pinterest quote or blog post. I'm looking forward to getting to the part about keepsakes and photos because that's really what peeked my interest about the system in the first place. 

I have made a major dent in organizing and decluttering my crafting stash which makes me very happy. When stuff is messy and cluttered I tend not to use it because searching through a mess of things to find something specific makes me frustrated. When I know exactly where to find a piece of red paper, alpha stickers and a pair of scissors I will happily find them, use them and then put them back where they belong. 

My obsession with The Curse of Oak Island remains strong. I've already started working on convincing J. to visit there this summer. History is my favourite and I enjoy a good mystery that is mysterious and a little creepy but doesn't involve anything too crazy. Obsession probably isn't a good word to use because it's not like my life is revolving around treasure hunting. I just like watching the show every week followed by a quick Google search to find out what the people on the internet have to say about the events.

I have the morning news on while I'm writing this and it just got interrupted for the Golden Globe nominations and I am incredibly annoyed. Who are these people? I want to learn about the weather and world news not which famous people are nominated for silly awards. Also, I don't remember the last time I've watched any award nominated movies. 

I mailed Christmas cards on Monday and am keeping my fingers crossed they get to their destinations before the people leave their current residences and come home for Christmas. The inter-province ones should be fine but I have a suspicion that the ones making their way clear across the country might not arrive until January. 

Speaking of shipping woes. I ordered photo calendars two weeks ago and they're not in yet. The only place to get photos developed instantly around here is Wal-Mart and they always have terrible service and mediocre quality so I've started ordering prints online from Shoppers and getting them shipped to store. Which generally works well except that it takes a minimum of 3 weeks for anything I order to arrive in store. Very much open to alternative photo printing methods. Keeping in mind I'm in Canada and will not be selling arm and leg to pay for shipping.

Linking up with Stuff & Things!