it's been a long time...

it’s been a long time since I have been here…

and honestly…I’m not even really sure why.
I feel like I kind of fell off the radar a little bit…
I don’t even really know what has been filling my time.

Sleep maybe.
Sleep has been filling my time.
I come home and it’s cold & dark,
and all I can think about is getting in my
warm bed…and hibernating til spring.

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But the days are starting to feel a little longer now…
this weekend I actually got out of the house….
stayed up past 8:30 pm to play card games with family
and it was soooo much fun…
Saturday morning I got up early to take my daughter to
Charlottetown so packed my camera and
made a day of it…

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Also met up with a new friend
(we have been online friends for a bit
but met up in real life Saturday)
and, seriously, it was so awesome. :)

You know how sometimes you meet someone
and you just feel like you have known them
FOREVER
(even though, just moments before, you worried that you
might not recognize them in Starbucks)
and you spend the whole hour and half laughing hard
and randomly exclaiming “OMG, I knowwww! Me, too!!!”
Well…that’s how this went.

The main reason that Melissa & I planned to get together
is because we both share many of the same interests
(photography, bullet journaling, watercolors, etc etc etc)
and thought that it might be fun to see if we might be
able to create a little network of other people
who have similar craft/art related interests…

We have created a Facebook group called
Creative Collective (PEI)
and, while it’s just in its baby stages right now,
we are hoping to create a space for people to
join & come together to share what their interests are.
The plan is have some meet-ups happen,
both in Summerside & Charlottetown,
to give people a chance to get out and network
with other people and maybe have their own
”I knowwwwwww!!! Meeee, toooo!!” moments.

We are pretty excited about this so watch for much more to come!

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whatcha readin' 2019 {book 2::goal 25}

I really didn’t know what to expect from this book.

I really only picked it up because
it was available to me.

But I was totally and pleasantly surprised
at how much I actually go out of this.

(Mostly, due to timing, you know with the stupid separation and all…)

But, all in all, I did find it helpful and interesting
(and also very amusing which is incredibly important).
There was a whole section on the phenomenon
and mystery of online dating
which, as you might know, I have been dipping my toe
into (very, very tentatively, because really…it’s a scary place out there).

And sometimes, it’s just nice to read something
that you can relate to
and, if all you can get out of it is a sense that you
are not alone…that there are other people out there stumbling around
in the dating world trying to avoid fake profiles
and offers of unwanted photos and forced small talk/awkward silences…
then that is probably good enough.

I know it made me feel better.

4 ♥’s out of 5 ♥’s
NEXT UP: EVERY NOTE PLAYED - LISA GENOVA

tuesday truths...trying something new...

It’s scary to try something new.

But it’s also exciting and intriguing,
fun and interesting to push yourself out of your comfort zone
just an eensy-teensy bit.

I have been doing a lot of
new things lately
that have scared me…
but in a good way….mostly… :)

Change scares me.
I fight it, tooth and nail.
I always, always have.

But I think I am getting a little better.
(I don’t cry nearly as much, heehee).

In the spirit of “trying something new”
I thought I might push myself COMPLETELY out of my comfort zone
and try something that I have been considering for a long time
but did not have the guts to try…
I am also just coming off a 5 day cold so
it’s possible the effects of the children’s cough and cold
will have worn off by morning
and I will have totally chickened out on this whole idea.

But…for now…

I have created a Patreon account.

If you are not familiar with Patreon,
it is a way that I can share more of my photography and artwork
and maybe push my creative side a little harder
by forcing myself to be more accountable.
Patreon allows me to offer perks and treats for
anyone that chooses to follow me on that medium…
which means, I am forcing myself to focus
and stop spinning my wheels in 22 different directions.

If you check it out, please feel free to let me know
if there are things that you would have liked to have
seen offered as treats/thank yous…
and there is no pressure to sign up there.
This is really just an experiment, a new venture,
you never know til you try…
so today,
I try.

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tuesday truths....the music edition

If you follow me on Facebook,
(not only do you know that I post WAY too much but…)
you probably also know
that I love music.

I can’t sing.
I don’t know a note.
I can’t tell pitch or tone or anything else…
but I know what I like
and I can’t go a day
without listening to music.

I have to have a playlist
on all night while I am sleeping.
I listen to music in the car,
while I’m painting, cooking, cleaning, working…
and sometimes
I just lay on the
couch or the
bed or the
floor
and lose myself in the darkness
and the words
and the
heartbeat.

And I will listen to almost anything…I’m pretty open…
I can honestly say there is no genre that I refuse to listen to
anything from…though there are definitely songs that I don’t like….
(and…I hate dire straits. Let’s just get that out there and move on)
:)
Here’s what I have been playing on repeat lately (and, um, I should warn you…I like songs that
say the eff word sooooo….just be careful if you are clicking links)

• she is beautiful - andrew w.k. (I listen to this every morning loud as soon as I get out of bed)

• seagulls stop it now - this is not actually a song…it’s a bad lip reading video but I have a weird taste in music and listen to this constantly as well. And, yeah, I still love what does the fox say sooooooo….I warned you. I have weird taste in music. :)

• whiskey - joey landreth

• armour - soul filter

• she - dodie

• figures - jessie reyez

• seeing all red - shakey graves

• patenipat - charlotte adigery

• jekyll and hyde - five finger death punch

• whistle stop - roger miller

• chop suey - system of a down

• sweet sixteen - billy idol

• video games - lana del ray

• little bit stronger - leighton meester (i forgot about this song. I don’t listen to a lot of country but this song…well….it speaks pretty loud to me right now…so…it’s on the daily playlist)

And I looooooooooove recommendations for new music! :) Hint, hint…heehee.

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friday i'm in love...(the one where I get totally off track)...

♥ I love these little barns. And when I say I love them them,
I mean I love them with my whole heart…I love the pop of red,
the fact that they are all alone out there, but together…
a big one and a little one…that one tree…the worn paint, the doors…
I just love them. :)

I couldn’t tell you how to get to them
but I can tell you that I have taken dozens of photos of them
over the years. I kind of like that I am so bad at directions that finding them
always comes as a bit of a surprise to me…like seeing old friends at the grocery store
and being so happy that you pulled your cart/car over to catch up again.

I also love that I posted this on Facebook and so many people
not only recognized them but shared their love for them, too!
And one person even gave me a little bit of history about them…
which I love knowing. It just makes me happy.

Social media is a funny thing. :)
I know it has its pitfalls and downsides and dark sides…
but mostly…I love it….because it gives me the possibility of
connection
that a self proclaimed introvert like me
would not normally be able to make.

I’m getting off topic. :)

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♥ Except that I am not really getting off topic. :)
The next thing I love is kinda related to social media, too.
For a long time, I only used my photography page for
sharing photography…and when I say photography,
I mean mainly paid sessions…and by that, I mean, mainly weddings.

And it was fantastic. I had great success with that page…
lots of interactions, connections, likes and comments
(and you know I like comments & likes! heehee)
but when the weddings stopped, I kind of stopped posting there.

I didn’t think that the people that followed my page for that
would be interested in what I am doing now…
haha….whatever it is that I am doing now…
dabbling….that’s what I am doing.
Picking at this, doodling that…little bit of writing,
a lot of random posts about mundane things in my life…
but I started slowly sharing little bits of that on my photography page
and, to my surprise and IMMENSE happiness,
not only did I not really lose any friends there,
I have actually started gaining some more! :)
And they comment and like and share and read my blog sometimes (hi there!!)
and we talk about books and cards and
where I should go on my next Friday adventure and
it makes me so incredibly happy.

Which makes me think about where to go next…
I feel like I would like to revamp that page a little…
but I would also like to revamp the blog…
and maybe start a Patreon page
which would give me another platform for sharing
some of the ideas that I have thinking about…
and might also help me be able to accomplish
some of the ideas that I have.
I feel like a Patreon page would force me to be
accountable and productive
and stop spinning my wheels and
jumping from one idea to another….
if I had paid subscribers waiting for specific things,
then that forces me to buckle down and focus…
but then…it’s about money…
and if you know me at all, you know I have issues
when it comes to pricing.

(I did my first wedding for 60.00 if that gives you an idea
of what I mean by that. Heh.)

Anyway…it’s a lot to think about and totally NOT where I
intended this post to go.

I wanted to tell you that I played Apples to Apples & Skip-Bo
for the first time last night and it was so fun, even though I lost.

And that I have a brand new bag of cinnamon hearts.
Oh…..and to say thanks for sticking with me for this long rambling muddled
post of a post. ♥

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