the sunday currently, volume 123.

reading nothing at the moment. A little under a year ago, I started reading Big Little Lies, following watching - and loving - the show. I need to pick my iPad back up and re-start, and finish this book.
writing daily pages in my pocket traveler's notebook from Chic Sparrow. I have the pocket Maverick, and I love it. Other things I write in my TN? Blog post drafts! I've also been writing in my new bullet journal - my second one ever. I finished my first one a couple of months ago, and dropped the practice for a little while. I'm so glad I picked it back up - I really believe it's the best planner/journaling/memory keeping system for me. My first bullet journal was a large, black, squared Moleskine. My second one is a blue, dotted Artists' Loft notebook from Michael's. I'm hoping to try the Leuchtturm 1917 next.
listening to a playlist that I made in anticipation of my 30th birthday. The songs remind me of the wait for Luke to arrive, wondering if we were going to share a birthday. Little did I know, I'd have to wait until September to meet the little guy.
thinking that Luke and I are ready for Justin to get home. He has been in Austin since Thursday, so Luke and I have been holding down the fort since then. We've enjoyed our Mama-Luke time, but we're definitely ready to be a household of three again.
smelling like Sensual Amber from Bath and Body Works, a year-round favorite, despite its silly name.
wishing for an end to the violence that's been going on in our country. That's all I'm going to say on the matter.
hoping for a productive week. Luke and I need to get some stuff done around the house, run some errands, and I am beginning a 10-day health and fitness challenge tomorrow. Time to get in shape!
wearing one of my favorite necklaces lately. It's a gold bar from Stella & Dot, and it has the coordinates of the hospital where Luke was born etched into it. It was a gift from Justin when Luke was born.
loving being back in the blogosphere. There's nothing quite like it. I've missed it. And I'm loving starting again with The Sunday Currently!
wanting to eat sushi every single day. Hibachi is a close second.
needing to clean out my email accounts.
feeling ready to get in shape. And thankful. And hopeful.

See all volumes of The Sunday Currently here.

What little pieces are making up the normal in your life today? Link up & share below.

blogging in twenty-eighteen.

Back in December, this kind girl right here commented on one of my Instagram posts (see above). 

She asked if I planned to start writing again in 2018, and to be completely honest, I hadn't even given it much of a thought until her question. And believe me - I'm glad, so glad, that she asked. 

Sometimes, I find, even when I love to do something, miss doing something - it takes an extra external push to have the courage to jump in with both feet. It is often at the prompting of friends, the asking of family, that I press on, keep at it, remember to make time for writing. And when other external forces inadvertently work to quell that desire to write, it becomes more difficult to put energy into it.

First, OT school happened, which took almost all of my mental energy. Then, I became a mom - one of the biggest changes and challenges and joys in my life - and that took all of my mental, physical, and emotional energy. Then, I graduated OT school, and a few months later, started working, and that took up quite a bit of all of those energies also.

It's no wonder that I was absent from one of my most loved hobbies - even though I continually missed it. In addition to the things I mentioned above, I was also happily trucking along with everyday life, keeping up with family, friends, figuring out how to manage my household (still working on that one)... etc. I've been settling into myself, and it has taken some time.

All of this to say... I hope to write more here this year. I've been thinking up some series to start doing, possibly falling back on some older series, and really, just planning on opening up my browser and typing more often, whatever it may be about.

Here's to the joy of blogging, of sharing. Thank you, Emily. 

the sunday currently, volume 121.

rainy day last week 

Good morning & happy Sunday, everyone! Welcome to the reinstatement of The Sunday Currently! I've recently had a bit of a revelation where blogging is concerned, & I am so happy to be back here with you, sharing the normal details of my Sundays. Back in grad school, & right after having my son, I felt like I was too busy to pen one of these posts each week. That makes me very sad, because I feel as if these posts are a kind of living time capsule. When I go back & read past TSC posts, I respond in one of two ways, usually: 

1. Ohhhh, I remember that.

2. Cool! I don't remember doing that. 

While I greatly enjoy the experience of the former, it is the latter that inspires me to write these posts and keep up with this practice. The capturing of small memories that may have been lost, the window into a moment in time... that is the impetus for these posts & the reason I have decided to bring them back. I can make time for this, and I will. 

Currently...

reading It's Not About Perfect, by Shannon Miller. So far this year, I have read Talking As Fast As I Can, by Lauren Graham; Scrappy Little Nobody, by Anna Kendrick; Letters to a Young Gymnast, by Nadia Comaneci; Off Balance, by Dominique Moceanu; and Little Girls in Pretty Boxes, by Joan Ryan. I am planning to read Big Little Lies, by Liane Moriarty, after I finish Shannon Miller's book, since I enjoyed the television show so much (and I am now making Justin watch it with me!).

writing lots of to-do lists on the magnetic notepad I bought a couple days ago at Marshall's. I have lots of stray, random items that need to be accomplished, & it is already helping to corral all of them so that I can remain focused and actually productive. 

listening to "Selling The Drama," by Live, was a good idea this morning. I listened to the Throwing Copper album a lot at the end of junior year of high school, so, to me, this song & many others sound like new beginnings. 

thinking that this stage of motherhood is pretty sweet. I have a post coming soon about Luke's birth story, & after that, I'll be sharing a post called life after birth. I have decided I want to share my story, even though I hesitated for a long while. More on that coming soon. 

smelling a freshly-bathed baby is the best thing! Luke takes a bath every other night, & it is one of my favorite things!

wishing I had kept up with the practice of writing TSC posts through the last couple of years, as I mentioned in the introduction of this post. The only thing there is to do, is to keep up the practice now, so that's what I'm going to do. 

hoping for a great week ahead. Justin is off, so I am looking forward to us spending time as a family of three! We are hoping to put some stuff up in the play room so that Luke can practice pulling up, which he is already starting to do!

wearing the Patagonia fleece that my parents got me for Christmas. Like, all the time. I love it. It's one of my greatest comforts at the moment. 

loving the way that Luke's personality is developing. He is such a sweet baby, and curious, and stubborn, and talkative! 

wanting more coffee. And I've already had two cups. It is Starbucks Sunday, after all, so I will probably indulge once we get out after Luke's second nap. 

needing to drink a ton of water this week. Luckily, I joined a 21 day fitness challenge, and drinking at least 64 ounces of water per day is one of this week's assignments. I'm very much looking forward to not only this individual part of the challenge, but getting back into a healthy lifestyle over all. 

feeling content & inspired. And happy to have written this TSC post today!

siddathornton through the years:

2014

See all volumes of The Sunday Currently here.

What little pieces are making up the normal in your life today? Link up & share below! 

on loyalty.

It's a funny thing, isn't it, to think of being loyal to a blog. To a place on the internet. 

This blog - siddathornton - & I have been through a lot together. 120 volumes of The Sunday Currently. Many hastily tapped out confessions. Many caffeine-enhanced ramblings. Many days spent tucked into the very back corner of the new Starbucks on Oleander Drive in Wilmington, shivering in the cold, coffee-scented air while I switched between writing in my many journals & planners, applying for OT school, and blogging, always blogging. Mornings at Port City Java, when things felt so new. Afternoons at Port City Java, when I ate chocolate chip muffins, burrowed into a fuzzy, cream colored scarf and tried to write a business plan. Travels to & from Shreveport. A cataloguing of the weddings of my friends, and then, our wedding. 

These things are all the moving parts of the things that I hold most dear: my relationships. 

So, I guess it's not really a funny thing at all, loyalty. It's familiarity, it's sinking deep into a warm blanket of memories, of identity, of knowing one's self. I can't think of anything more comforting. So, here we are, ready to make even more memories, siddathornton & I... ready to keep holding on to the old ones, too. 

-- 

siddathornton through the years: 

2012 | 2014 

goodbye & hello.

a brand new place for memories is right here.

a recognition of myself.

i need to remember to write. 

not only is it like therapy to me, 

but i just don't want to fall 

out of the practice.

i already feel rusty at just 

simply writing my thoughts down.

i always have myself. 

i always have a pen and paper.

i always have books and stories

and movies and shows on netflix. 

i need stillness and quiet

and a recognition of myself.

to have those things

is to have peace. 

on calling somewhere home.

happy first-day-of-winter

I've thought a lot about starting a new blog in the last year. Many times, I feel somewhat self-conscious over the blog name "siddathornton," because I feel like it is a made-up word that isn't exactly natural. In addition, over the last couple of years, I have fallen completely in love with camellias, and I have come up with a few blog names that follow that theme, that I actually really like. 

Every time I try to "make the switch," though, I hesitate. 

This blog has been my home for four-and-a-half years so far. There are some very fond memories that are attached to this blog. And I don't want to let go of them. In fact, some of my most favorite blogs over the years have "re-branded" themselves - some more than once - and I always feel a little bit sad when they make that choice. 

Call me a sentimentalist, but I find something very comforting about consistency, even loyalty, when it comes to our blogger-homes. I've come to identify with the name "siddathornton," and I like to think that it has become a part of me. 

For that reason, I feel - at this moment - that I will never (hopefully) change the name under which I blog. Sure, this space has been quite the fluid representation of myself, but it has always retained the same essence. For now, that is what I cling to, what I call home here on the vast internet. 

As far as hosting, however, I am singing a different tune. I am seeking something other than Blogger, and I would love any suggestions you have for me. WordPress? Weebly? Squarespace? What should I do?

inspiration: found. searching for discipline.

serendipitous photographs  

My mom and I ran into a friend while out shopping today. 

We talked about so many things, and it felt so great to reconnect, but it struck me [as it always does when this topic comes up in real life conversations] when we talked about blogging.

She shared that she herself was interested in getting into blogging.

"My blog has been paid for for a few months now," she said. "But it's blank - there's no content."

I want her to start blogging. She's witty, she's funny - she has the BEST kind of dry humor. 

And it made me think. Maybe if I want her to blog so badly, I also want me to blog just as much. And I do. I want to be here. I miss sharing. I miss connecting. 

With the rebirth of The Sunday Currently, I've felt so much joy. That means something, doesn't it? Yes, it does.

Long live blogging. Long live the written word. Long live siddathornton.

hello out there.

Blogs are funny things, aren't they? 

Remember when I told you in January that siddathornton was being revamped, and that I would see you in a month? Well, obviously, as it is now April twenty-first, I did not see you in a month, and siddathornton was not revamped. 

Recently, I read a post by Betsy about blogging. In one of the opening paragraphs she talks about how she considered not coming back to her blog, about how it was strange that she felt blasé about possibly not returning to the space... how she didn't feel the need to blog anymore.

I have been feeling all of those things, especially with grad school (and everything that comes along with it) on my plate. Suddenly, I had all of these assignments, all of these new friends, and all of these things to do, none of which took into consideration my house that desperately needs cleaning. Suddenly, my life was very full and I wanted for and needed nothing. My life was full, and blogging was the thing I chose to prune in that time of fullness. 

In her post, Betsy talks about how she doesn't feel the need to catalogue her life through her blog in a "diary-like" way anymore, and I have to agree. I don't feel the need to blog in that way anymore, and with school and friends at school being such a big part of my life now, I don't want to document their lives without their permission. 

But I do still want to blog. 

When I decided this, I knew I had to make a decision: would I continue blogging under siddathornton, or would I close the book on this chapter of my life and move on to something different? I have some of the best, most fulfilling memories from this space. I have met and collaborated and shared creativity with many wonderful people, using this space as a medium, and it felt weird to think of starting new somewhere else. In a way, it felt like abandoning all of those experiences and memories. 

But, I have felt - on many occasions over the past year or so - that it was time to move on.

So, what does all of this mean? Well, this means that this is one of my last posts here on siddathornton. It means that a new blog is coming soon. It means that I have no intention to quit blogging now, or ever, really. It means that I want to keep sharing, though the type of sharing I plan to do over on my new blog may be a little different. Or, perhaps it won't. That remains to be determined. 

Until then, I hope that all of you that have frequented this space will continue blogging. I hope that you will continue sharing beautiful photos and beautiful words. I hope that you will continue sharing your stories, in whatever way you see fit and in whatever way makes you feel comfortable and creative. Blogging is such a wonderful thing. It really is.

I will see you all soon.

announcement: siddathornton is being revamped.

As the blog post title suggests, I am in the throes of re-designing and re-vamping siddathornton. I'm hoping to have all the changes made within about a month's time frame, and I'm excited to resume normal posting after it is all complete. To everyone who reads here, thank you for sticking with me through the radio silence of the last few months, as well as the half-hearted attempts at pop-ins. I'm dedicated to this little space, and I will more than likely have plenty of time to share here during the course of the spring semester that I have just started. Thank you again, and I hope you're looking forward to a new and improved siddathornton just as much as I am!

let's simplify.

For the last few weeks, as I finally launched my brand new career as an Occupational Therapy student, I had a lot to think about. Making new friends among the twenty-five other OT students in my class, figuring out how on earth I was going to stay on top of all of my readings, assignments, quizzes, tests, & meetings, how I was going to eke out some time to work out, & the list goes on & on (and on, further than you could ever imagine).

You always think you’re ready for these life transitions. You daydream. You make “schedule proposals” in your journal. You make plans. You make promises to yourself & others.

And then, you begin the transition. And suddenly, nothing looks at all the way you imagined it. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s a startling, unnerving, un-tethering thing. Suddenly, your proposed schedules are so far off point that you may as well run them through the shredder, along with your sanity. Suddenly, you are busier than you could have ever imagined. Suddenly, you arrive home at five o’clock, & you have no idea where the whole day has gone. Suddenly, one day passing feels like an entire week. Suddenly, you are on a rollercoaster each day: at the peaks, you (figuratively) scream out,

I CAN DO THIS.

And you believe it. In the valleys, you wonder to yourself,

How will I ever accomplish all of this?

And you are genuinely concerned.

Through all of these feelings of excited chaos, there was one thing that kept running through my mind. One thing that had absolutely nothing to do with OT school. Amidst the quizzes stressed about & taken, the homework assignments tapped out in wavering confidence… It was there, probing, annoying, begging to be answered.

How will I blog through all of this?

To most people, I’m sure those closest to me included, this seems a bit of an inane worry.

Who cares about blogging? You are on the cusp of a new career.

They might be saying. And I know it’s true.

But there is something that blogging does for me, that it has been doing for me for over 12 years. It gives me something that is completely my own. A creative outlet. A way to express myself. A way to save my life for all posterity. A way to scrapbook. A way to reflect. A way to make everything feel special.

That is what blogging – at its simplest core – has always meant to me.

But how am I to continue this practice, with the mountainous to-do lists I now have teetering & tottering on my psyche each day? How will I make the time?

The answer: I will simplify this space.

No more “series” in which I will attempt to tell myself what I am to write about that day. No more scheduled monthly favorites or empties. No more scheduled editions of The Sunday Currently. No more telling myself when a post MUST go up into cyberspace. No more being so serious about it. No more attempts to convince myself that I need to make money off of my blog. No more feeling inadequate if I don’t.

No more schedules and pressures, in short.

This blog, from this point forward (well, as far forward as I can see right now, which is about a day & a half, truth be told), will just be… Me. A collection of photos & memories & thoughts & questions.

That’s it.

This way, when I am struck with that feeling to share (which happens a lot), when I am struck by the beauty – sadness – wonder of something, I know I will have somewhere to put it out into the universe, where like-minded or un-like-minded people may take it in & do with it what they will.

For the longest while, I was struggling with where this blog was going to go. I was having a bit of an existential crisis:

Why do we share things on the Internet?

I wondered to myself (and aloud to my closest people).

Why am I sharing that photo on Instagram? What am I trying to prove? Who am I trying to be? Who am I trying to impress? At my core, I realized I didn’t want to do ANY of those things through social media, not really. When I did do it, I got really caught up in it, wanting my life to appear perfect & beautiful & just-so. But the emptiness that ends up consuming you when you go down that road – it’s unbearable, like an ache that simply will not go away.

And the only way I knew how to take myself out of that virtual race was to really cut back on posting anything on the Internet. My Twitter account went silent. Days passed between Instagram posts. Suddenly, I remembered what it felt like to simply be myself. And it felt wonderful.

Slowly, I started sharing again. Slowly, I figured out what I truly, when I was completely honest with myself, wanted to put out into the virtual world. Slowly, I figured out that I could share, without it changing who I was, what my goals were, & what my ideals & morals & wishes were.

So, that brings me back to this space, where I will share exactly what I feel. Exactly what I love. Exactly what makes me sad, excited, melancholy, & overwhelmed. The only thing I know completely is myself, and that is a growing relationship I’m trying to nurture daily.

I’m not trying to sell anything. I’m not trying to make myself appear perfect, wonderful, relevant, or in-the-know. I just can’t do it anymore. I just don’t want to do it anymore.

What I do want to do: provide comfort to anyone who may derive comfort from my images or words. Inspire those who may feel the same way as I do, to live their best lives & to remember that putting their best foot forward each day is enough. Remind everyone that things & life & love & photos & your house don’t have to be perfect at every living moment. We’re all in this big race called life together. And just being is enough. Just sharing is enough. There doesn’t have to be some ulterior motive behind each post. Just sharing the joy you felt – through a photograph and a few words – is enough.

I feel that if I don’t restrain myself, I could sit at this laptop & type for three hours (at the least) on this subject. But I also feel as though I’ve fully expressed myself in these 1096 words (give or take).

The key to blogging through school (and for years after that, hopefully) is simple: it lies in simplifying. Being true to myself. Writing what I know. Writing what is true within me.

And really, didn’t I always know that?  

posting schedule: summer 2014.

Well, folks, I did it! I blogged every single day in June, & it feels great! To read more about my thoughts on June Blogs, check out my post from Saturday. As I mentioned in that post, I felt like I needed to create & commit to a blogging schedule. And as you may have guessed from the graphic above, that is exactly what I did. For a more detailed look at this new blogging schedule, read on!

SUNDAY - As most of you know, Sunday is the day that I reserve for the weekly link-up that I host: The Sunday Currently. With the new blogging schedule, this day will remain the same: there will continue to be a new edition of The Sunday Currently every single Sunday, at 12 noon. Come link up if you'd care to share what you've had going on recently.

MONDAY - Monday will play host to two different genres of posts: those of a goal-oriented nature, or those of a personal nature. What kind of posts can you expect to see in the "Goals" category? The Nectar Collective's Weekly Wishes link up, an edition of my Things posts at the beginning of each month, or any other smattering of goal-related items. I've decided on an every-other-week frequency for my linking with the Weekly Wishes crew, because I felt a little bit rushed with only having one week's time for each set of three goals. I think having two weeks to accomplish those things will help to decrease my stress levels. Personal posts will be what they've always been: little snippets of life, thoughts, reflections, etc.  

TUESDAY - If you love posts about organization, Tuesday will be your favorite day around here. Thanks to the wonderful Organized Jen, I have, over the last year or so, reignited my love of organization, planning, & routines. Examples of past organization posts can be found here, & they serve as a good guideline of things to come. In addition, I will also be using Tuesday to post about any projects - knitting, crochet, or otherwise - that I have going on. 

WEDNESDAY - This is photo day! For quite a while, I have used Wednesdays to showcase my array of snapshot posts, which are often the product of either travel or of toting my DSLR around Wilmington, pretending to be a tourist. You'll also find around here lately posts in this slot, which is the way I share & recap my recent Instagram photos. Personal posts are also an option on this day, but I foresee this as housing mostly photo posts. I wanted to leave the option open to just pour my heart out on a random Wednesday, if needed, though. 

THURSDAY - On Thursdays around here, you can expect to find outfit boards, a la Cozy Thursday, beauty product boards like these past wish lists, &, well, any other kind of collage board you can think of. In addition, Thursdays will also house my empties posts, playlists, subsequent editions of recent reading, & more. I'm still dreaming up new series for this section, so be on the look out!  

FRIDAY - In addition to my Weekender posts, I've created a new genre of posts for this space: Improvement. This category encompasses the world of health & fitness, & I plan to share a lot more on those topics in the future. 

SATURDAY - No posts on Saturday around here. This is my re-charge day.

As you can see, this schedule dictates that I will be posting every day of the week other than Saturday. I am committing to that rhythm for the time being, but please know that this schedule may change in the future, as I will be starting Grad School in the Fall. If the schedule does change, however, I will post an updated one! 

You may also have noted that Personal appears on every single day, except for Sundays, which are for The Sunday Currently, & Saturday, which is my day off. Personal posts look a lot like this. Or this. Or this. I wanted to leave the option open for those posts on pretty much any day, because they are some of my very favorite posts to write, & also some of my very favorite types of posts to read on other peoples' blogs. 

So there you have it! That will be my blogging schedule for the foreseeable future. As I mentioned earlier, this schedule may change in the coming months, but I will post an update when that happens. I love the idea of having a more structured blogging routine, & I hope you do, too. This will also serve as a guide for any of you to know when the kind of content you're most interested in will be popping up around these parts. So you see, it's a win-win!

Do you have a posting schedule? What does it look like? Please share! And also note: I will soon be sharing my blog-writing & social media management schedules, if you're interested in seeing how I'm getting organized with scheduling posts & such. Those posts will be up on a Tuesday in the near future!

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<a href="siddathornton.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy248/siddathornton/Untitleddesign-3-1.png" alt="siddathornton.blogspot.com" width="125" height="125" /></a>

Want to join me in blogging every day in June? The more the merrier. I even made a button to celebrate the occasion. Feel free to use it in your blog sidebar or in the body of your posts. Let's encourage one another to get back to our blogging roots. Happy blogging!

thoughts on blogging every day in june.

At the end of May, I declared that I would be blogging every day in June. And of course, I wondered if it was going to pan out like my experience of blogging every day in May, or my experience of blogging every day in August. I was scared of burning out, I was scared I wouldn't actually meet the goal of blogging all thirty days [which, with today being the 28th, I still haven't - yet], I was scared it was going to make me kind of hate blogging, like my Blaugust experience did.

Because when you commit to blogging every day in a given month, I think two outcomes are possible, the first being that you are ultra-inspired, that your blogging rhythm is reset, that you come out the other end feeling fresh & inspired. The second, well, I'm sure you can guess: you're completely burnt out, you feel stretched too thin, & then you go on a blogging hiatus.

I am so happy to report that I am coming out of the June Blogs experience a happier, more inspired blogger. I have genuinely enjoyed putting together my posts each day, even though my goal of getting two weeks ahead with scheduled posts did not come to fruition. As a person who loves scheduling & routines, it brought me joy to make blogging a priority again, & to treat it as part of my daily regimen.

Also, this month has taught me a few things:

1. I need some professional help with my blog layout & design. I've been wrestling with the looks around this space for a long, long time. Longer than I care to admit. But recently, I've begun making plans to change that, & I am beyond excited about what is in this works for this space, in that regard. I'll go ahead & tell you one of the changes, & that is that I will be moving this space over to WordPress, & siddathornton will finally become a dot com. The name of this space is also going to be slightly altered, but as I said, the address will still fall under "siddathornton," & all of my social media will remain under the "siddathornton" handle... Ok, I'm getting ahead of myself. I will be posting more about this in the distant future.
2. I need to make & commit to a consistent blogging schedule. Done & done. On Monday, I'll be sharing my new posting schedule with y'all.
3. I need to remember how fun blogging can be. Blogging affords me the chance to capitalize on my own, true voice & identity. It's my space to share myself, to examine my life, to celebrate, to ponder, to wonder... aloud, to others. And then, the feedback. The friendships. The advice. The wisdom I feel is unique to this community. Blogging is fun, at its core.
4. I need to stop being so hard on myself. My photos aren't perfect? It's ok. I haven't picked up my DSLR in a couple weeks? It's ok. My layout & design aren't where I want them to be at the moment? It's ok.
5. Imperfect things are perfect. See above. As I've said a million times, blogging is a fluid thing. And things that are changing & growing are often imperfect. And that is ok.

Lastly, here are a few of my favorite posts from this month:

i choose the light
cozy thursday: last week of spring
spring 2014 empties
early rising: the joyful truth

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<a href="siddathornton.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/yy248/siddathornton/Untitleddesign-3-1.png" alt="siddathornton.blogspot.com" width="125" height="125" /></a>

Want to join me in blogging every day in June? The more the merrier. I even made a button to celebrate the occasion. Feel free to use it in your blog sidebar or in the body of your posts. Let's encourage one another to get back to our blogging roots. Happy blogging!

on letting myself rest.

I know that I mentioned these very kinds of posts in this post, & how I wasn't pleased when they were all I was writing, but I decided to keep them around, in moderation. Why? Because, well, I feel like they are even more personal than any of my other posts. They are a way for me to share my thoughts of the day, whatever they may be.

Today,  I am coming to you from my favorite Starbucks in town. The new one on Oleander. And, you know, I feel like I need to go to my favorite places in Wilmington as much as possible, because at the end of July, we're moving away from here. 

And today,  I am just glad that I got out of bed before eleven. I am just glad that I put on makeup, fixed my hair. I am just glad that I packed up my laptop & composition books & made my way over here to work on things. I am just glad to be here. Working. Thinking. Doing.

Because I'm going to be honest with you: yesterday, I spent all day in my pajamas. Yesterday, I watched Girls almost the entire time I was awake. And when Justin got home? We watched One Tree Hill. Basically, what I'm telling you, is that I spent the whole of yesterday on the couch, in my pajamas, watching TV.

But this morning, I realized that that was ok. It was ok, because that was what my body clearly needed. In the days leading up to yesterday, this weird sort of lethargy was just... enveloping me in a way that I couldn't ignore. I was tired all the time, my body ached... but I continued to push myself to work out, to make to do lists, to feel bad about myself when I didn't achieve the things on those lists. 

So yesterday, I just internally yelled - ENOUGH! - at myself & did what I wanted. All day. So I watched Girls & One Tree Hill &  didn't get dressed. And I believe it is for that reason that I am actually able to function as a normal human being today. So you see, it all worked out. It all served a purpose. So I guess what I'm saying is, when you feel that you are exhausted, give yourself a break. Let yourself be re-energized. Your next-day self will thank you. I'm almost sure of it.

Know why else I like these kinds of posts? They remind me of my early-blogging Xanga days. And I liked those days & what those blogs represented back then. Did you have a Xanga?

/////

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Want to join me in blogging every day in June? The more the merrier. I even made a button to celebrate the occasion. Feel free to use it in your blog sidebar or in the body of your posts. Let's encourage one another to get back to our blogging roots. Happy blogging!

i'm doing it again.

They said it couldn't be done.

Well, technically, I said it wouldn't be done... ever again. Remember?

But then, I went into one of the biggest blogging slumps of my life [I know... dramatic]. Throughout December & January, I took a much more casual approach to blogging, popping in with informal, often photo-free updates. I was ok with how it was going, but I wasn't loving it, & I realized I wasn't taking much pride in it, either. 

But it continued. March & April came & went, & I still hadn't found a way out of my writing rut. And then May came along, too, & two things happened:

1. One of my all-time favorite content creators, Organized Jen, said she was going to go back to her roots in regard to vlogging. I noticed a near-palpable difference. Suddenly, everything I always loved about her channels was back. Suddenly, I fell in love with her content all over again.

2. My sister graduated college. And suddenly, I yearned for my early blogging days, when my blog played the part of record-keeper for all the main events in my life. 

And, really, my path from there was clear: a trip back to my blogging roots was the answer. 

So, what can you expect to see on this page as I blog every day in the month of June?

Well, you can expect to see a lot of the kinds of posts I used to do: snapshots, favorites [love lists], The Sunday Currently, reflections accompanied by photos, recent reading posts, weekenders, & the lot. I'll also be writing about my career change, our upcoming move, & more. I also plan to participate in more link-ups. 

The main point is, you will see me here every day of June 2014. And I am so very excited about that. I hope you are, too. Here we go!

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Want to join me in blogging every day in June? The more the merrier. I even made a button to celebrate the occasion. Feel free to use it in your blog sidebar or in the body of your posts. Let's encourage one another to get back to our blogging roots. Happy blogging!

dear blog...

dear blog,

i miss you. i really do.

things just haven't been the same between us, have they?

i plan to change that. i want to go back to those days 

of getting excited to share things through you. 

photos, words, stories... life. i miss sharing it all. 

but most of all, i miss the thrill of simply running 

a blog that i'm passionate about. 

the thrill of putting together posts. 

having something i can be proud of. 

something that makes me happy when i think about it. 

you were once that thing for me, and i hope you will be again one day. 

until then, i'll stick it out with you. i'll keep trying until i get it right. 

i'll keep experimenting until i get the rhythm back down.

one thing is for certain: i will never give up on you.

 no matter what. we are in this together, you and me. 

love,

lauren

this is it.

It's a tough thing, writers' block.

It's a tough thing, bloggers' block.

I always swear to myself, up and down, that no matter what, I'll just continue to write. No matter what, I'll just continue to blog. Because writing - because blogging - is allowed to be a fluid representation of you, in whatever form it may come out. It doesn't have to be perfect. It doesn't even have to make sense. It just has to come from a voice that is uniquely you - uniquely yours. 

I don't know what happens to stifle my voice. But, it's always a creeping thing. Slowly, less lines of paper taken up with my thoughts. Slowly, fewer lines of text in a blog post. But then, it feels sudden. Suddenly, no journal entries. Suddenly, no blog posts. 

It's all a delicate flow, really. It's a fragile push and pull, a give and take, writing. It whirs along at the speed of light, and then, the tiniest distraction or divergence can throw it off kilter, and then, well, it's completely out of sorts. 

But then, I remember. This is writing. This is living. This is it. And the pen flows.

/////

on taking a break from social media.

I know it's a going premium in the blog world, to talk about simplifying your life. I've talked about it - here, most recently - I've read about it, and I like to think I've taken part in this movement from time to time. 

But I'm only human, and I find myself drawn to scrolling Instagram... to scrolling Twitter... sometimes, even Facebook. And sometimes, frankly, I get just plain sick of it. Sick of it all. Sick of the pressure it makes me feel, to post witty remarks and beautiful photos. 

When I came to Shreveport last Wednesday, I made a little pact with myself that I would abstain from posting on social media sites for the duration of my visit. And, aside from tweeting all of the Sunday Currently troupe, I've held strong. And it has felt really good. And, I've also missed it. 

Maybe instead of simplicity, the key to all of this crazy, wonderful Internet stuff is moderation. Tweeting a little here, Instagramming a bit there... maybe that's the way out of the madness that is being glued to my phone.

And while the proper balance still evades me, I will continue pressing on and searching for it. And when - if - I ever find it, rest assured that I will share.

Have you found the elusive and sought after social media balance? Please, feel free to share your own personal method to the madness. Oh, and expect to see me again via all of the social media avenues beginning this Wednesday.

off to breckenridge! | my first ever ski trip.

I'm sitting here in our apartment, about to have dinner, and I am a ball of nerves, as I usually am before I travel. The nerves, however, are intermixed with extreme excitement, because by the time you are reading this, I will have begun traveling to Breckenridge, where I will be snow skiing for the first time ever!

I know the posts around here have been few and far between lately, but please know that I have been dreaming up some interesting things to write about. Also, there is another redesign in the future, as well as some other possible changes. It's still a little unclear when these changes will be happening, but as far as writing more often, I plan to get back into the more consistent swing of things very soon.

Depending on my Internet availability at our vacation house, I may have a few new posts up in the next couple of days. If not, of course you can expect to see The Sunday Currently here on Sunday. Then, the following week should have a wealth of posting happening. 

Thank you for sticking with me, even during the dry spells in this space. You all continue to amaze me with your kind comments and unfailing support. 

Have any of you been snow skiing before? Any advice for this newbie? Please do share your tips and tricks for staying on your feet. I feel like I'm going to be spending a lot of time falling down and getting back up again...

some links of note.

I try not to post these lists too often, but today, I had to share. I seem to be coming across a lot of interesting, inspiring blog posts recently, & I want to spread the love. So that's what I'm going to do.

I'm a sucker for stationery. So I think I'll be making this gold dot variety very soon.

I need all the help I can get, in a lot of areas. But especially with cleaning.

Stumbling across some Australian bloggers has awakened me to the fact that Christmas happens in the summer over there.

Can someone teach me how to make these kind of stitched hoop creations?

I'm a homebody, but this year, I also want to be a doer.

I like almost all of these old person things.

I love when bloggers switch gears into vlogging for a moment. And perhaps now I've been inspired to do my own vlog version of The Sunday Currently.

I've vowed to read twenty-four books this year. Maybe some of my selections will come from this list.

The gold version is my laptop background. The black version is my iPhone background. Thanks, Allyssa.

We are all enough, & we are all worth taking care of ourselves. Remember that. 

Have you stumbled upon anything that inspired you lately? Please, really do share. I'm in one of those moods where I'm finding inspiration around every corner, & I derive great joy from being in that kind of mood. Help me perpetuate it?