here I am......"swinging" into the new year......bwahahahaha
One week into the year!
Twenty Twelve they are calling it.
I remember Y2K like it was yesterday, and I just accidentally dated a bill 2003, so it boggles my mind that it is 2012...you know, the year the world is ending, and stuff.
Did you make big resolutions? Have you kept them for the past week?
I think as a "blogger", it is my duty to make one of my first posts of the year all about the goals I want to set......but I have never been big on setting goals at the start of the New Year....borrrrring.
blog fail.
But over the last year I have made a few small changes that I would like to share with you.
blog redeem.
I have stopped reading blogs.
(record screeches to a halt!!!!)
What!? Not read blogs?! Isn't that what life is all about? it IS the end of the world!
Well, not completely......I still check in with friend and family blogs so I can stay up to date on their adorable children. I have a few favorite photo/travel/food blogs that I love to drool over the photos (because who doesn't?)
But I have really whittled down my list. For the most part, I find that too many blogs, no matter how adorable or fashionable or creative or popular or absolutely wonderful they may be......they are in no way contributing to a better lifestyle for me. What I get out of them is that I am not doing enough crafts, throwing enough parties with all my fancy friends, wearing a new outfit in every photo I take of myself, dressing my kids adorably enough, wearing my hair pretty enough and making a tutorial of how I made it so impossibly pretty, living in a fancy enough house, organizing every corner of my life, hand making paper for handmade invitations for a handmade birthday party for my baby that isn't born yet, etc. etc. etc.
ETC.
So I pulled the plug.
Every year at this time of year I wonder why I blog. What a silly thing to do, and why would anyone care what I have to say? But I have made some fantastic new friends with similar interests over the past few years, all because of this tiny little corner of the internet....and I LOVE that! I have found that I love having a place to share my passion for food, living healthy (and making cake), being a mom, exploring outside, and just my general enjoyment of the small things in life. I want to spend my hours living my life and doing things with with my family, not working on trendy new blog worthy content.
That is not living.
That is not living.
All of our lives are full of so many tiny things. I think it is too easy to forget how important these tiny things are when we are constantly bombarded with perfection and grandness all around us.
I love this quote:
"The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things"
-Henry Ward Beecher
I try so hard to do this every day.
Life is busy and crazy and fast paced.
But every day I try to look for all the little things around me.
They are the big things.
giggling.
dance parties in the kitchen.
little hands making messy sandwiches.
a sun ripened tomato.
warm bread.
a run.
a nap.
little things. real things. life.
These are the things I hope I can share with you.
From the food we eat to the mountains we climb, and all the tiniest in-betweens.
***
We ended our 2011 with two hikes in one week.......could I go on and on and on about this crazy amazing weather? YES!
hike #1. neffs canyon. 50°. slushy trail. rope swing. frozen creek.
On New Year's Eve we headed out in the sunshine for a few hours to admire the mountains we live in.
hike #2. corner canyon. new year's eve 2011.
We came home for cocoa, we rolled sushi for the first time (fun!), ran around with sparklers, and watched a movie--the four of us together on the couch.
We spent New Years Day eating soup and ice cream (contradicting?), playing Uno and a [very heated] game of Monopoly.
What a perfectly simple way to start the year.
Here is to a happy year, full of the littlest of things.
25 comments:
And that is why I love your blog! It's all about the real things in life, the things that make you happy and give you joy. Readers can feel your sincerity and by golly, your food is yummy nummy. One of the reasons that I don't keep up my public blog is because I don't like trying to keep up with the rat race of other sewing/craft blogs. It's just not a priority when my 4 yr old is growing up so fast I can hardly keep her in shoes.
Hi Sheena,
I've been reading for awhile and never comment but I just have to say I LOVE your blog. It makes me want to cook/eat like you aka a rockstar! So thanks for having such a fun blog that does contribute to my life!
Jilleun
I love this post!! I, too, have dwindled down the blogs I read. And your reasoning as to why you have made me laugh out loud! I whole-heartedly agree with you.
Love your adorable little family, Happy 2012!
Can I just say thank you! No really! I am pretty new at this stuff but LOVE reading blogs! Do I spend countless hours doing so? Heck-to-the -yes! So I needed to hear this...no sweet babies in our home yet, but I have a fabulous hubby, wonderful family VERY nearby :) and our wedding album (that's only four years old) that I am dedicated to finishing sometime before the "end of the world". So Thank You!
And this is why you are my one of my favorites. I love the little daily snippets and the joy you and your cute family have for life! Love those photos. Especially the rope swinging!
Thank you!! I am now inspired to do the same! I found yours orignally for the photography, but lately have just been enjoying the words :) Love the posts about running (which I hope to try some day, LOL)... and love your photography style. ~Jen
woohoo!! you go, sheena.
the same thoughts have been swirling in my mind. i love blogging, but... what about life without a blog? i find myself excitedly wondering, "what if just never go back to my blog in 2012?!? oooooh!" like i would be a rebel or something. :)
... I would miss seeing my kids if you didn't blog!
I just love the spirit of this. I must say, these seem like a wonderful resolutions: read less blogs; extract happiness from common things. Right on.
I need to do this. I've noticed that when I take a break from blogging I'm much happier with myself, so maybe a dwindling of my blog list would be great. And as a wannabe fashion blogger myself maybe I will take the time to show my readers that I am not perfect and that I do take some really horrible pictures and am not always dressed up.
I don't know blogs you're reading but blogs have provided me with so much information and stimulation. I love the patterns and recipes. They have encouraged me to follow my passions. Give them up? Never!
Love your honesty in word and picture.
bah! dear friend, i got rid of google reader TWO thanksgiving's ago because i always felt awful that my life wasn't as good as others. hell-o! that's dumb because i have a pretty sweet life. :)
i'm like you, i read a handful of friends/families blogs a few times a week and rarely even update mine now. life's too busy as the kiddos get older.
glad you had such a good year! :)
I unsubscribed to over 100 blogs over Christmas break. And it has been liberating.
I love what you said! It definitely is great, and needed, to take time AWAY from the blog world!
I do read a few blogs, but I don't feel like it's too much. It's a great way to meet people and get inspiration from.
Including your blog! Your blog is definitely unique and I love reading it. Especially how you always include moments with your family, which is the most important thing of all.
I truly love this post! I go back and forth about my feelings for blog reading...it often seems like a waste of time, but I also love it. I've definitely narrowed my list down and only check in a few times each week, but the ones I do read give me a lot of encouragement and inspiration- like yours! They make me feel connected to other bloggers and each time I read a new post, it feels like my own personal study of humanity.
Even if you continue to stop reading, please keep writing!
You know what, if one day I'd be a Mom. I wanna be just like you :) All being close to nature and stuff.
Happy New Year, Sheena.
so love stopping by a few times a week and giggle while being inspired by your posts. your approach is so understated and full of joy in what you hold dear. i think that is why you feel like the friend next doot that i like to check in on. life is so full of distractions...blog reading {and writinfg for that matter} being one of them. your family is blessed.
and thanks for the kefir link. i couldn't find if because i was expecting kefir in the title. forgetful me!
i love love LOVE love this post.
i know exactly what u mean about reading other's blogs. i used to be obsessed with it, but lately it's become more of a chore. maybe it's because I feel obliged to read them, iunno. but whenever i do, i feel that i'm not being original and coming up with my own ideas.
anyway, happy new year and i really hope u keep blogging!
I whittled down my list, too. Yours made the short list. Thanks for sharing your wonderful little family with us.
Its funny, I was thinking the same thing today. I look at some blogs and I feel horrible about myself. I don't know if they know that they do that to many women. I have to continually tell myself that "they" aren't the average woman. And that's why you've stood the test of time for me. You're the real deal lady!
thank you for sticking around because you are one my "favorite photo/travel/food blogs that I love to drool over the photos" i love your little family and your delicious food and your hikes and your tomatoes. so yay!
I commend your honesty and completely get why you would cut down on your blog reading. I've waisted hours scrolling through pages of other lives whilst not really improving my own. I find this post encouraging, so thanks!
This post made me laugh about other people blogs. It's so true to form. However I genuinely really love reading your blog and I don't even know you. So don't stop writing. I love reading and seeing your happy photos and it inspires me to do better not feel bad :) Happy New Year.
i love this, sheena. i think it is something i definitely needed to hear, as i have been feeling that way a lot lately. i call it cutting thru the blog smog. i think it's time to eliminate my google reader. although yours is on the top of my list ;) i always drool over YOUR photos, YOUR food, YOUR life, YOUR kids, YOUR crafts... how funny that you feel the same way when you look at other blogs... who knew. buuuut, i love your perspective and fresh ideas. and your new layout ;) thank you for the inspiration sheena.
xo,
kylie
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