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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

I think I might have lied...

OK. Remember when I posted last week that I have some great exciting jewelry tutorials to show off. Well... and here is where the post title comes in... I think I might have lied.

Don't get me wrong. I DO have some great tutorials and projects in the works. However, they are still kind of in the... you know... the works.

I find that I always have all these great ideas in my head (and jotted down in Evernote!), but it takes time to make them a reality, and time isn't always readily available. You following?

So Saturday I just couldn't resist the spring like weather and spent the afternoon taking pictures and walking around. (I couldn't believe how nice it was!) The rest of the weekend was mostly spent working on my DIY Light Box post.

Come Sunday afternoon I realized I did not have any pictures taken for my Jewelry Thursday Post. This has been going on for weeks now! Work on my Monday post, then don't have time for my Thursday post.

I am sure you are thinking, "but now you have a light box, so you can take pictures any time you like." Well, the real world just doesn't work like that, does it?

After finishing my DIY Light Box post around 2 pm on Sunday, I went to work on getting some food ready for Sunday dinner and headed to my parents house. My brother and sister-in-law were in town with my wonderful Nephew! He's so big now! 17 months old! My does the time fly! Especially when I only get to see him a few days out of the year. :(

Here he is bird watching.



Isn't he precious?

This was the first time I have taken pictures of him with the new camera. My pictures turned out very blue, so I need to pay more attention to the White Balance. After editing them in picnic/Google+, some of them turned out salvageable.

It was very different taking pictures of a toddler! He was constantly on the move. He saw the neighbors cat and was go, go go! trying to find the kitty. So different from taking pictures of my step-son, who was 9 years old when I first met him.

We took him down the street to watch the cars drive by. He was completely entertained by watching the traffic go by. My brother says they spent hours on that street corner the last time they were here. He is such a country boy!

They live on an island with no ferry access, no electricity, no sewer, no water, and barely any cell reception. When my brother and sister-in-law moved out there, we didn't think they would ever want children. It was a shock to find out that they were pregnant (more on that later!).

Monday is back to work day. I kid myself into believing I can take pictures after work. That I will have the energy to. That the guy won't be pestering me for guy time. Yeah... again. Doesn't work that way.

I forgot that this time of the year is our busiest time at work. I was looking at everything I need to do. I am sure my eyes were getting big every time someone asked me to do something. Someone came by my cube and asked if I would be interested in some comp-time (the salary equivalent to overtime, only paid 1 to 1 instead of time and a half).

Yeah... Even without this persons request I have this feeling I will be working 50 hours per week for the next month with a 60-70 work week thrown in maybe. Not exactly my idea of fun. I like making money... but to pay for my fun time!

So this is where I acknowledge that I have had an epiphany that just keeps rearing its head up and staring me in the face. It is in regards to blogging... I am a hobby blogger.

Whew! That is a weight off of my chest! So what does this mean?

Well. It means that maybe I don't have all the time in the world to participate in as many link parties as possible. Maybe I don't have the time and energy to comment on as many blogs as possible in hopes that they come check me out.

Maybe I am OK with the size of my readership. That I'm not try trying to be the uber famous blogger queen. That I am not trying to make this a career. That I will, maybe, be content with my free blog platform and be content that I never see income generated from blogging.

I never really expected those things. It is just so easy to get swept up in the momentum. Link parties opened my eyes to a whole world of blogging that I hadn't see before. It was easy to let myself get carried away.

What I want, really, is to continue to develop the relationships I have made to date. Invest my time in commenting on their blogs and supporting them because they have continued to support me and cheer me on. Maybe I want to spend more time writing than DIY and commenting. That's OK, right?

Any who. This is me saying, I might be toning things down a bit for a bit. I might also change my approach to blogging to relax the pace for me. I apologize if I get slow in responding to comments and even slower checking your blogs out. That is just me taking care of "real world" stuff first. I also like to take my time to really respond to comments and comment on blogs of those I enjoy. I think I sometimes make it harder than it should be.

I really appreciate those who follow me, those who have cheered me on and those who will continue to do so into the future. A round of hugs for all you wonderful ladies you!

And just because I can't get over how cute my nephew is, here are a few more pictures of him:

My Nephew

21 comments:

  1. Aww, such a cutie... forget the tutorials for a while :))

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  2. Ahhh! Your nephew is so incredibly adorable. He and my little Caleb would be such good buddies if they met! :)

    ~Abby =)

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  3. I think its so easy to get swept up in the competitive nature of page views and such, and forget why you started blogging in the first place. I'm finding that a challenge right now too! Good for you for recognizing what will make you happy and doing it!

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  4. Bethany, this might be my favorite post that you have ever written. It's so honest. So raw. So YOU! And you are fabulous, my friend. Thank you for inviting us into your thought process; I definitely resonated with a lot of what you wrote about. The struggle to find balance between blogging and life and work and love. How easily we can get swept up into what others are doing and to feel the pressure to follow in suit. The need to re-evaluate our goals and re-shape them as seasons change. The value to stepping back and slowing down. (That's a biggie for me.) Anyway, I feel like I could chat with you about this post for hours over hot drinks...there's so much I want to say. But instead of rambling on and on, I'll end with this:

    It's okay if you don't post as much. Or don't comment as much. Or if you take a break. Or if you stay on Wordpress.com forever. Or decide to stop blogging altogether. It's okay because it's your life! And nobody else's. And yes you have a group of faithful readers out here cheering you on, but only you know what you really need. So, although you may have heard me cheer you on about migrating to self-hosted Wordpress, that may not be the right thing for you. And that's okay! You've gotta do what's best for you, and in the end, that's the best for your readers. Does that make sense?

    Just know I've got your back, and think you're the bee's knees. Thanks for trusting us with your honest thoughts. I applaud you for the words you spilled here today, and for having the courage to do what you need to do and not necessarily what the world is shouting at you. You go, girl.

    HUGS,
    Lauren

    P.S. Gorgeous photos and that little boy is too precious for words...so it's perfect that you captured that preciousness in images!

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  5. I am SO the same way! I have all these great projects in my head, start them and then they take forever to complete!

    Jenna @ Rain on a Tin Roof

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  6. He is such a cutie! I am taking a hiatus from the tutorials until I have the energy to do them. Thank you for your support!

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  7. Awwww! That would be too cute to get them together. :D

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  8. I am still working on it. I started this blog to encourage myself in my hobbies. To be able to track my goals and successes. It is good to keep in mind what your goal was and reassess what your current goals are. The whole page views/followers race is definitely easy to fall prey to. You start getting these delusions of glory. Granted, some people may find blogging a successful business entrepreneurship, but that isn't why I started blogging and I have to remember that. I started feeling like I was spending too much time trying to promote my blog than actually working on the blog. I hope you find your happy blogging place!

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  9. Bethany.. in my so humble opinion you do what feels right for you.. When you have the urge to do a "DIY" post, do it..if all you want to do is post pictures, do that.. I have learned (from all of you fine people) that blogging should be a fun place to share and express ourselves. I personally like whatever you post...

    and btw..your nephew is utterly adorable...I want his hat :-)

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  10. [...] was such a delight to realize it was true! My precious nephew is so wonderful and my mother is head over heals in love with her first grand [...]

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  11. Thank you so much for your comment, Lauren! When I read it, it truly made me happy inside. I am so glad that you enjoyed this post. I have been looking for my voice and my blogging place in the community and balancing it all with the "real world." I look back on some of my old posts and think how bland and boring they might be. I read your posts, and all my favorite bloggers out there, and I realized that I wasn't really reading posts for the project that is being showcased, but the person behind the post. For their sense of humor and personality. We really do get attached to each other. So I have been trying to interject more of me behind my posts. I am glad that this post captured a little of that.

    I have been sick all weekend, so I hope that made sense. Haha!

    So if I don't post this Thursday, that will be OK. I have all these ideas in my head and I will eventually get them out and onto the blog. But for now I am OK with what I am doing. I have actually really been enjoying just writing more. Focusing less on the projects and just getting some words put down on the computer screen.

    I am so happy that you think so highly of me. I just want you to know I <3 you back! It is always a joy to read your posts and interact with you. It is so nice to have you as a blogging companion! I feel so encouraged!

    Hugs back!!!!

    And that boy is so cute! I just want to hug him and squeeze him! I am hoping to go visit them this Summer. He is just too cute to not get to see him as much as possible.

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  12. I am glad I'm not the only one! Girl, you have been doing such a fantastic job! You really have been building your blog. It's so fun to watch our favorite blogs take off. Hugs!!!

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  13. I want his hat too! When we got back inside, we took his hat and jacket off. He kept asking for his hat back in baby sign. He is too cute!

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  14. [...] My epiphany that I am a hobby blogger made me take a re-look at my blog in general. Everything I saw about my blog spelled out N-O-O-B. I was using a theme from the WordPress.com repository without any real customization. [...]

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