Unintentional-Turned-Intentional Blogging Hiatus

Wow. I've been gone for seven months! At first my blogging break was completely unintentional - I was busy (more on that later) and blogging took a back seat. Then the break became so long that I decided to make it an intentional 6-month break. Then that date came and went without me realizing it, so the hiatus continued. I don't assume that anyone still even reads this blog, but I've missed writing. I especially miss that I haven't documented the last months when I look back at the few years worth of documented moments, memories, and lessons that I have on this blog and want to remember.

So. Here we go again. SO much has changed in the last seven months. I haven't been to this site at all in the last seven months, so I had forgotten that my previous post from March 22 was titled "Starting Over". Reading that post tonight was a little crazy for me. I am in such a different place (literally and figuratively) and I felt a wave of total blessing to know all that has changed in a short time. I really have started over in so many ways - new territory, new state, new home, new age (as in number, not religion).......

I think (for my own sake when I revisit this blog in the future) I'm going to start with a month-by-month catch up. Thanks to my obsession with Google Calendar, I should be able to recreate the last few months fairly accurately. Then I think I'll follow that up with a few posts reflecting on some of the bigger changes in the last few months.

[This is the part of the post you skip because a month-by-month catch up really serves no purpose for anyone but myself. There is nothing insightful that follows, just a list of what has been happening]

APRIL: Brother/Sister game night, small group game night, Pinstripes with church friends, TK's Minn. coaches Hall of Fame induction dinner, Matt Wertz concert, trip to LaCrosse to visit AD, trip to PA to start my job search, Beav's bday in Cannon Falls, Family Easter brunch at the Lake Elmo Inn (YUM), trip to Kansas City with BD to visit HW and fam......

MAY: Kickball started/basketball ended, bonfire in Belle Plaine with church friends, race in GB with Dad and Beav, cabin/project weekend with Mom and Dad (my first solo painting project completed!), I MOVED (April 15th was the first mention of me switching territories and I was packed and moved to WI on May 23rd), and three days after I moved I went to FL for the Next conference.....

JUNE: Four days after I got home from FL I went to CA for a week for work, my new territory started on June 13th (for the first month I drove about 2000 miles a week!). Many people went to my cabin, but I never made it there in June. I got older and had a much more low-key birthday celebration than usual (but very pleasant all the same), went to LP for Prairie Days and a dedication of a garden at Camp Lebanon to my Grandparents, auditioned for a new job (yes, auditioned).........

JULY: FINALLY to the cabin, dinner in St Paul to say so long to a dear friend headed out of the country to be a missionary, Saints game with church friends, Chicago trip with SL and my parents to see the Twins and eat amazing food, brother/sister cabin weekend in PR, FINAL audition for new job (which I didn't get, btw), family reunion in Iowa, goodbye dinner for BL, cabin weekend with BD, NK, HW and fam, small group pool party......

AUGUST: Bethel friends cabin weekend, movie night with church friends, Twins game with sis, Chicago Half Marathon with BW, Welcome Team meetings, CA for another week for work, straight from CA to PA to meet up with my family on vacation and "enjoy" Hurricane Irene.....

SEPTEMBER: Final cabin weekend (SO FUN), GreekFest, Jesse James Days, dinner at Spill the Wine with girlfriends, lots of kickball fun, friends' 30th bday parties.......

OCTOBER: trip to KC with the fam for the Vikings game, time with my bestie while she was in town, brother/sister game weekend, Mom and her friends visit WI, Ang's bday dinner at Marx (YUM), a blind date (complete with embarrassing moments), Pampered Chef party (FREE stuff!), Bethel friends slumber party (ten girls!), Vikings/Packers game in the Dome, Dad in the hospital for a week.....

Some reflections to follow......

Neglected Blog

My sister is right. You have to start somewhere.

Though I'm sure nobody is chomping at the bit for me to stop neglecting this blog, I've decided that I do really want to keep blogging, if only for myself. I simply need to make it a priority (I won't say that I don't have enough time, because everyone has exactly the same amount of time, it is just a matter of how you prioritize what you've been given, and lately blogging hasn't been a priority for me). Looking back on past blogs, I'm glad that I have some of my activities and thoughts documented (especially considering my horrible memory), and I absolutely LOVE following other blogs and having a glimpse into the everyday moments of friends and acquaintances (when I read things like this and this and this I get all happy inside), so I would like to do more of that at my blog as well.

I'm going to steal a page from Becca's book and write a few updates in "stream of consciousness" style.

I've been road tripping a lot lately - to Madison for a Gophers game, to Chicago for a wedding, to Green Bay for a Vikings game, to LaCrosse for a weekend with college roommates and their kids....and next weekend is back to Chicago for another Vikings game (and family fun). I've had a LOT of fun, but it has made me a LOT tired. I am SO thankful that I've had a low key week to recover from many weekends on the road, and to prepare for the sprint toward the Holidays!

Speaking of the Holidays, my Holiday activity for the months of November and December will be PINCHING PENNIES. Oy. I didn't find a renter for my house this winter, and that will very much limit my disposable income. Goodbye, hair color. Goodbye, coffee from Caribou. Goodbye, cute shoes and outfits for get-togethers. Goodbye, delivery boy from Jimmy John's.

I'm annoyed that I didn't write a blog about the Desiring God Conference because I really had a great weekend there. The teaching was great and the fellowship (with my sister and her friends, as well as some church friends) was great. Maybe I'll go through my notes and make a post on it (but don't hold your breath).

I haven't felt so great physically over the last month. I got a nasty sickness in California (while there for work) and it just won't go away. Then there's this: I'm not sleeping well because I haven't been exercising. I haven't been exercising because I eat junk all day and don't feel up for it. I've been eating junk all day because I'm too tired and lazy to eat right. I'm too tired and lazy to eat right because I'm not sleeping well. I'm not sleeping well because I haven't been exercising. I haven't been exerci.....THIS, my friends, is what we call a vicious cycle. It must end, but I don't know where to start. OKAY, I DO know where to start, but I kinda don't care right now.....even though I really do care.....make sense? Ugh.

I have approximately 4,582 books I want to read, yet I sit around and watch too much TV. That annoys me.

Also annoying....the Vikings. And that is all I will say about that.

I have a desire for less clutter in my life. I think that means reorganizing some of the areas where I live (I've already started in the basement). I've decided I can't wait for a time when I have an entire weekend to dive into a huge reorganization project, so I just have to do it bit by bit. It may take me forever.

Okay, I have many other little random thoughts, but I am getting bored with this, so I imagine I've already lost any readers that have stuck with this post (or even happened upon this post at all after my hiatus).

Ta-ta for now. Here's to hoping I'll be more consistent in my blogging.

Too Many Drafts

Tonight I organized my kitchen and basement. Next on the list is my closet.

I guess I should organize my blogger, as well. I currently have TOO MANY DRAFTS sitting in my blog. Some of the titles of these drafts are: Supplemental Income, Shopping For Time, Mastering 5 Worst First-Date Dishes, Palindromes, Five Years, Love-Hate Relationships, Lots of Bags, Bigger Than, Friendships, Why I Don’t Ask Guys Out, and Partners.

Some are almost ready to be published, and some never will be published. Some are very old news and some are thoughts that are just now occurring to me. Some are about serious topics and some are very much not serious.

We'll see what I actually end up doing about these drafts. Maybe I'll have some time to edit them while I'm ON MY WAY TO WATCH THE VIKINGS IN CLEVELAND THIS WEEKEND. Can't wait.

Bloggy Birthday

I started blogging one year ago. I did have some reasons for starting a blog, but I wasn't really sure what they were. I'm still not sure what they are, even though I do still have some reasons for continuing this blog. It's not as if I'm adding anything to THE conversation (I'm not as delusional as some bloggers out there), but I do think I add to A conversation - not just the conversation I have with myself (though anyone who knows me will understand that this blog does add to a conversation that I actually do have with myself) but more so with my friends from reality that I like to keep up with online. And with some of you stalkers. I know you're out there. You better start your own blog soon, or I'm going to call you out.

Some of the posts here have been somewhat thoughtful, some much less so. Some have been informative, others not at all. I don’t have a great memory, so this blog has been a nice way for me to record significant days and fun trips. I’ve tried to use this as a way to hold myself accountable on things I want to accomplish, though I don’t know if it is as effective as any other tool I’ve used in the past (which is to say that I can never really find a good way to hold myself accountable). Some posts were light-hearted, some were serious, some were in jest, and some were purposeful. Funny, sad, excited, dreadful. You get the point.

I guess I can't think of a good way to describe my blog other than "random". I tagged posts in 24 categories, and I probably could have tagged more categories than that along the way. I suppose that I am a fairly random person with fairly random and varied interests, so it's only fitting that my blog reflects that. There is no theme or rhyme or reason to the posts, and maybe that's something that should change, but that's the way it is for now. And maybe forever.

Other anniversary facts:

• I have posted 143 times
• I posted the most in November (18)
• I posted the least in October, March, and May (9)
• The two posts with the most comments have been Can't Eat Fast Enough and For the Sake of My Sister
• The two most viewed posts have been I've Been Gone... and Waiting For A Man

I think overall I am glad that I have a blog. If nothing else, I enjoyed taking some time tonight to peruse the things I've written over the last year. I was reminded of things that made me laugh, things that made me cry, places I've been, thoughts I've had, books I've read, crazy things that have happened to me, etc, etc, etc.

So, Happy Bloggy Birthday to me!

Blog Stalker

So.....I follow a lot of blogs.

Like, over-100-a-lot.

You'd be right if you said that not all of them are worth following, so I really only skim most of them. Don't worry, I really don't think I have an official "problem". I do try to limit my time and not become obsessive.

So anyway. If you also follow blogs, you probably use something like Bloglines or Google Reader. I wanted to tell you that I made the switch this week from Bloglines to Google Reader and I am LOVING it. Here are the top reasons I like Google Reader over Bloglines:

• Google Reader loads faster. Sometimes Bloglines wouldn't import new posts for a LONG time. Google Reader gets them there in minutes.
• In my opinion, the format of Google Reader is more aesthetically pleasing.
• You can see previews of all the new posts on your home page of Google Reader
• Not only can you keep posts that you have read as unread, you can star items and keep all your favorite posts in one place, no matter what site it was from.
• Overall I have found that Google Reader is more user friendly. I am not a computer whiz, so I know there is much more I can do with Google Reader, but I was able to pick up on basic (and very useful) features very easily.

If you have no idea what I am talking about and would like to know more, check out this informative post.

Power of Words

The video in this post uses the song I posted about last month.

It reminded me to go back and read this post now and again.

I needed it last week.

I've Got Nothin'

Nothing I have to say is quite as inspired as my sister's postings about her recent trip to Africa.

You should probably read some of her poems here and learn more about her trip here.

Justification

Not theology. Just an explanation for starting a blog.

I do have reasons. But as I was thinking about what I would say in a post about why I started this, I got really bored. So I figured if I’m bored with my reasons for starting a blog, there is no reason to bore anyone else who might stumble upon it.

Just know this:

• I started a blog
• I do have reasons
• The reasons may or may not come out in the course of my posts over however long I stick with this
• I've never really "stuck with" anything in my life, so don't expect me to stick with this either (essentially, I want you all to have very low expectations of me...)
• I still can't really decide if my reasons to do a blog are better than my reasons to not do a blog, so I am just going with it - effectively overriding my indecisiveness and tendency to over think things in one fell swoop (is "fell swoop" an actual phrase? Or am I saying it wrong? Like on Friends when Joey thinks it is "moo point" instead of "moot point" ("You know, like a cow's opinion. It doesn't matter." So funny). I could practice due diligence and look this phrase up, but that is not the point of this blog and I don't intend to put that much effort into it. I also just realized that I used parentheses inside of parentheses, so I should really end this sidebar before it goes any further....)

That about covers it for now. Although I didn't really offer any justification.

Whatev.

Blogger

It rhymes with Frogger.

I've never played Frogger and I don't know if I'd be any good at it.

Those are also my thoughts on blogging.