Word Web Vocabulary: friendship

Showing posts with label friendship. Show all posts

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Girl Without A Bff

In this day of social media.
Can I just say it?
There are things you find out.
Things you don't always want to find out.
Things you could have gone without knowing.

Inside jokes between mutual friends, only being semi-revealed on facebook.
You can feel the laughter on both ends, as each sits by their phone or computer giggling
....at 'their' joke.

Photos of people who went out and had fun without you. Smiles, laughter, meals.
Wait, this happened last night? Why didn't anyone invite me?
Why, you ask, well you're not a BFF, of course.

Then you've got plans being made by people, events accidentally made public,
and just in the knick of time, before they realized they needed to switch it to private:
you realize you were not invited...
and bam.
suddenly, the event is private.
Ooops, you weren't supposed to see that. You're not on 'that' list of friends.
You're just a facebook friend, didn't you know?

What about community & networking on instagram or twitter?
Sometimes it's just another form of saying, "This is an A & B conversation, you can C your way out."
You chime in with what you thought was a clever or funny or kind remark or suggestion...
Maybe, just maybe... you will get a favorite, not an actual reply, but a click of a star.
Is that all you are worth?

And my personal worst is this: the proclamations of everyone and 'their' BFF.
"Me and my BFF are doing this..."
"Just hanging out with my BFF..."
"A joke only a BFF would get..."
"Hey guys, stop by and meet my bloggy BFF..." (double whammy)
It's a good way of saying, "I might consider you a friend. But I already have a list topper."

Why is it my personal worst?
Well, I have a confession. I don't have a BFF.

I have 2 sisters & a brother that I love. I have friends I confide in.
I have a mom who I love to hang out with. I have a husband that I laugh with and cry with.
I have kids that I do stuff with non-stop. But I don't have a girl. One single girl. Or even a group of girls that I can put up a picture and say "Me and my BFFs."
I can say, "me and my girls" or "girls night" but I can't post of picture, nor can anyone post a picture of me and say with conviction, "THIS girl IS my one and only BFF."

Social Media has a really quick way of pointing out how alone you are.
(or at least making you feel that way).
It has a way of making you feel less than...
well, less than everyone else. Is 'her' life better?
There is a whole world of things happening outside your home and family
that 10 years ago you were perfectly happy not knowing about.
Ignorance was bliss, yes?
But now you know. Because you see everything.
You know it sucks. I know it sucks.
It just sucks to see the world revolve and you suddenly feel clueless. And left out.

So what do you do about it?
How do you feel like you matter in this social media world that may make you feel like you don't?
You become confident in what you do have and who you do matter most to.

I can tell you without a doubt, my kids world revolve around me.
I can tell you without a doubt, my husband will do anything for me.
I can tell you without a doubt, my parents will always do their best to help me out...
I can tell you without a doubt, my siblings will always talk with me and listen to me...

But most importantly, even when every other person fails me.....
even when those people seem to let me down...
When my kids are disobedient or disrespectful, when my husband grumbles if I ask him to do anything, when my parents aren't able to help, when my friends have their other friends to do stuff with, when my siblings have their own friends & families,
when it seems like the entire world is going and moving along without me...

I still have someone that I know is completely head over heels crazy for me.
He backs me up in any situation I feel helpless.
He gives whatever I need when I am lacking.
He wraps his arms around me when I am crying.
When I'm weak, he becomes strong for me.

He is my confidence in the face of adversity.
He is my guarantee in the face of uncertainty.
He is my positive in a world of negative.

He is who I see when I look in a mirror. I don't see loser. I don't see lonely. I don't see less than.
I see Jesus. Name above all names. Greater than. Victorious. Confident. Strong. Encourager. Friend.
And I see beautiful.

I give my everything because I am lacking for nothing...
Because I am made in his image. And that is who he is.

"You show that you are a letter from Christ, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. " 2 Corinthians 3:3

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

The Things We Cannot Change

There comes a time when we have to move on.

To accept that things aren't always going to be the way we want them to be.

People aren't always going to be who we think they should be.

Life isn't always going to treat us fairly.

We all have people in our lives who simply don't apologize for things

that were said or done that hurt us.

So we learn to accept that, this is just how it is.

We learn to be "the one to apologize" just to smooth things over.

Being frustrated, holding grudges, begging them to change, to apologize, to explain...

will never mean anything, because it was You doing the work

that someone else never thought to do on their own.

Or it was never in their heart to do..

Change has to happen from the inside out,

not from the outside in.

It's sometimes a hard lesson to learn, and mentally exhausting,
learning that we cannot change people.

People have to want to change. People have to want to say "I'm sorry."

And if they don't, they don't.

How do you accept that sometimes you will never get an apology, an explantion,
an "I handled things poorly" or an "I should have never said that to you."
I was talking to a friend long ago, and she told me "Julie, some people will
never give you closure, never give you an apology. You just have to learn to accept
that is the way it is, it's the way they are."
That is something that has always bothered me, not just in my own life, but when I see family
or friends obviously hurt, sometimes their lives nearly destroyed
and the people that hurt them are so stubborn, that they never
give the simple closure of an true heartfelt apology or explanation...
so instead they have to learn to move on without it,
to love that person they way Jesus loved us...

I never understood how people can think they are so right,
or perhaps they are so prideful
that they simply will not apologize for hurt they have caused others.
It pretty much drives me crazy,
because if I have hurt someone, I want to know about it.
So that I can apologize for it. So I can make things right, instead of letting people
just move on with their lives being forced to accept what I have done.
No, I'd much rather them accept my apology.

They questions is how do YOU want to leave things?

Knowing YOU did your very best? Tried YOUR hardest?
I know I do. I want to give life my all. Give people my all.
And If I mess up, I want to fix it.

Circumstances happen in life.

Sometimes we end up jobless. Sometimes we end up broke.

Sometimes we end up sick or our family members do.
Sometimes we end up broken hearted.
Sometimes our friendships fall apart... our relationships...

Some of these things we can change by the sweat of our brow, trying to make
things right over and over, perhaps a change in our diet or lifestyle.

Some of these things we cannot. The changes happen to us,

and we have to accept it. Even though it is usually never easy.

And sometimes we have to make choices, whether we want to be at home

with our family while having little to no money,

or whether we want to live a little more "high maintenance"

only to then miss out on the precious moments with the people we live for.

There have been changes in my life, that I have learned to accept,

that for now anyway, this is how it is.
Perhaps in the future things will change. Actually because I know my God,
I KNOW things will change, but while we are in this season,
I continue to grow & learn and rely on Him.

But these things I am not willing to "go out of my way" to change in this moment,

even though I could. Even though at one time things were different,

We had more. But I've gotten used to having less material "things"...

but in return I've gained so much more in the areas I really needed.

There have also been things that I have wished & tried desperately to change

that I simply had no power over,
and every day it is a decision to accept, it is what it is...
and it's time to move on.

We have to know what we want out of life to know what we are willing to

change and what we are not.

We have to realize what the end result will be in our decision.

And we have to know that we can never change peoples hearts

and some circumstances we can not change on our own.

Only God can change a heart.

Sometimes, Only God can bring restoration to broken body, a lifeless friendship,
an empty bank account.

There are certain things that as bad as we wish we could change them,

only God can change them. Only God can open those doors.

I've been thinking a lot about this lately.
Thinking over my life, and talking to other people.

I've had to pray, Lord, If I cannot change this, either you have to work on this situation
for me...or you have to give me the peace of mind to accept that this will never turn out the way
I want it to. I only have to accept that your plans for me are far better than my plans for me.

I guess it is my version of the serenity prayer: God, grant me the serenity to accept the
things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I cannot and the wisdom to
know the difference.

Are you thinking of things in your life that you wish you could change?

People you wish would say I'm sorry? Circumstances you have no control over?

Or perhaps circumstances you do have control over but haven't been willing to change yourself?

I know I am. All sorts of things come to mind.

All I know is if I trust in God, ask him to show me where I, myself, can change to either accept

certain things, or to better certain things, then I can have the peace I long for and no

matter what the situation is in my life, I asked Him to help me do my best.

Ultimately, my faith is in God.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding

In all your ways, acknowledge him and He will make your path straight...

Proverbs 3:5

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Friday, October 19, 2012

A New Chapter

Friday night is kind of a lame time to announce this, but I am leaving town and I wanted to get this done before I leave.

Once upon a time, I was a young, newly married girl. And I was going to rock and roll shows to see my little brother's band(s). His name is Jon and he now blogs over at Life So Aware (although he has been slacking a little lately). At that time, he was about 16 and always playing in bands with a guy named Noah. Noah was pretty much like part of our family. So much so that we took him on a trip with us to visit my little brother Jon where he was going to college one week. It was then, that Noah decided to leave us, and go to school. But it's all ok, because he met a beautiful, sweet girl that I absolutely love and her name is Stephanie.
You might know her blog: Love, Life & Babies.

Looking at all her amazing pictures was pretty much all I knew about blogs. I was a non-blogger that read her blog, but that's all I knew. That, and my Aunt told me I should write, because everyone thought I was so funny when I wrote my facebook status's. She actually told me to write a book. Then when I never did anything, she said "Write a blog or something at least!" So, late one night, New Years Eve of this past year to be exact, I did it. I had NO clue what on earth was going on. But I stayed up all night working on my brand new blog. I simply named it because I thought maybe I'd be telling funny stories...or something? I didn't even really know what a blog was.

It has turned into so much more than that. My blog has grown in numbers, which I am so thankful for. And excited about. And scared about too.This simply means more responsibility. More responsibility to be intentional with what I say on here. But setting aside numbers, this blog changed very quickly from telling funny kid stories, to sharing the deepest parts of my heart, my past...and where God has brought me since those days. I have seen a transformation in myself as I started to share my life story. I have watched myself grow on this little blog. I grew from this insecure, misunderstood, awkward girl to someone who had something to say. Someone who needed other people to know, who had ever felt like I felt, that they had something beautiful inside of them. They were made with a purpose.

So now, it's official. I've changed my name. I actually purchased a domain. Does this mean I'm a real blogger? A name change has been on my mind for awhile, but seemed to be such a hassle to switch everything over. And I didn't know to what. Plus I have a sentimental attachment to "The Funny Thing Of It Is." But my new name tells my story. It dropped in my heart one day and fit my story so perfectly. It tells the story of a girl who God has taken "From Awkward To Art"
~In case you didn't catch that in my new header. Wink Wink.

God has taken the tears, the sadness, the insecurities, the ashes...

and made it into something beautiful. He made art out of me.

I praise him each day for it.

I am humbled that he has used me

so many times to speak his love into people's despair

To reach people where they are at

And I am ever so grateful he has made me new.

I hope that you continue this journey with me, in the next chapter of my little corner of the internet.

I'm still the same goofball, sarcastic, non-hugger with a big LOVE for all of you "sweet girls."

I'm just a lot happier knowing who I am these days.

I want to thank both Stephanie (who I hear has a fun change in the works too right now) and my Aunt Pat for being such an inspiration and encouragement to me in this part of my life that has become bigger than I had ever imagined.
Please take a look around. I updated my About Me page and a few other things.
Also, if you have my button, let me know what size needs to be updated.

Leaving you with this awesome song, explaining everything I feel.

Check out my CURRENT GROUP GIVEAWAY HERE!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

10 Things You Should Know Before You Meet Me

I can hardly believe in about a week I will be trying on outfits, packing my bags, desperately
trying to lose 4 lbs in one day as I prepare to head to meet Lisa & Ally,
2 other Wisconsin girls that I have never met and then we will make our way to Indy together for
INFLUENCE CONFERENCE

There we will meet up with over 200 other girls, bloggers, shop owners,women of tremendous
influence, including our other roomie, Kerrie and there we will gain inspiration in glorifying God in all that we do and just have some good ole fashioned girl time fun. I think?
I thought it was only appropriate that I take a minute to introduce you to my roomies, who I will
know so much better in a week and a half, but for now, I will let you know that I already love them.

Lisa from Mommas Me Time
Alli from Life On Leroy
Kerrie from The Williams Post

And I thought, Hey I better let them and all of you other people that may meet me soon
a little bit more about me...

1) Just to clearn any rumors from the get go, despite my lack of wedding ring, I am STILL happily married. I never got my engagement ring and wedding band saudered together back in the day and I lost it a few years ago at an indoor water park. I do still have the engagement ring which I wear sometimes by itself, but I haven't had the cash flow to replace it yet.

2) A few health Issues: If you see me popping pills, it's for low iron and an ulcer , I swear.
Also, and inhaler is a must for me, especially if I laugh a lot. Annnnd~I depend on nasal spray to let me breathe. Horrible I know. Addict? Uh, kinda. Ever see this episode of King Of Queens? I love it.
I can totally relate.

3) I have been overly tired like all the time. (Just found out it was because of the low iron thing)
Naps have been a must. Not only tired, but extremely fatigued.

Using the stairs over the past few months have felt like I did an hour jog. And I am

not exaggerating. My body ~~looks like~~ feels like jello when I walk up the stairs in my house

and I start huffing and puffing, all out of breath. So, uh, don't mind the heavy breaths? I guess?

4) I swore I would lose 10 lbs before Influence. Thanks to NO energy, muscle fatigue...

and an ulcer which requires me to eat every hour (not kidding) to feel better, this has not happened.

Instead I gained 5 lbs. Whatevs.

5) The show Friends. You may hear it pop up in conversation alot.

I watch it nightly. Even when I know every episode by heart, own all seasons, I will

still watch it on tv if its on before anything else. So needless to say, I can find a moment

in every situation that "reminds me of this one Friends episode."

Just Warning You.

6) Despite my expression of my inability to hug in this post: I Thought Thats What Bloggers Did,
that I wrote a few months back, I want you to know...Seriously, I DO hug on occasion of first meeting, saying goodbye and if someone comes to hug me first at any other random time. I just feel awkward initiating most hugs. So, please don't let what I said scare you. wink.

7) And I wonder if maybe because of that post and my sarcasm & sense of humor, I may come across in verbiage as if I'm rough around the edges or dry? Maybe? Kinda? I think I'm just a little awkward?
But here's the real deal.

I'm definitely OVERLY sentimental.

I cry at EVERYTHING. Just warning you. I will avoid "goodbyes" or "closing statements" if I can, because I promise you, I will cry. You can see what I mean IN THIS POST.

8) Is it just me and my hubby, but whenever we get a break from the kids, all we really

want to do is sleep? We go out, try to figure out what we should do, dinner and a movie perhaps?

Nope, usually its dinner and "lets just go back home and sleep." I hope I don't feel that need

while with new friends, but those kid breaks always put me right in "I just want to sleep" mode.

9) I hope to God we are all wearing name tags with our name and blog/business posted right on them .Please do not be offended if you approach me knowing who I am and suddenly your name and/or blog gets lost in my mind somewhere. Or if your real life self looks different than your pictures...I need to go through the Influence Meet & Greet posts. (No, I have not done that yet) to get better acquainted with your faces this week, so I don't humiliate myself.

10) Is there a Chick-fil-a near by? Because the closest one to me is 45 minutes.

Just so you know. That's all.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

The Big Elephant in the Blog Room

You are all dying to ask me, right? I know you are.

Actually, a few of you did. But I can't remember if I answered or not.

Remember that post I wrote a few weeks ago, I Thought That's What Bloggers Did?

Yeah, I know you do. The one where I totally ~~opened my heart and revealed my true identity~~

put my foot in my mouth? And I told everyone on Blog Planet that I have been a huge phony.

Sooooo...the biggest thing most of you all commented on was the
"hug" and the "sweet friend" remarks.

I got all kinds of confessions out of you all about your "real life" verbatim vs your "blog life" verbatim. That was my intention, after all....muahahahahahahahaha!!

So, most of you know, just days after that post, I got a chance to meet IN REAL LIFE my

first blogger friend. Christina (can I get a woot woot?) from TicoandTina came

to Milwaukee to visit little ole me. Her family and 2 interns came to stay at our house

for 3 nights. She came to Milwaukee specifically to test my HUG theory. Right?

Here are a few brief things I will say about the visit:

1) It was NOT awkward in the least. I felt very comfortable. In fact, I felt so comfortable that I colored my hair one morning, came downstairs with hair dye all up in my mop, no make up...

and only slightly hid my face when walking past the extra dudes in the house.

2) With 11 people in the house (5 kids), it was surprisingly calm. This could possibly have

to do with the fact that when we were sitting at home, every adult in the house but me was sitting at their computer. And the only reason I wasn't was because my 8 yr old son was using mine.

(It's all good, I have my phone)

3) I love them. All of them. Seriously. I mean that. They all have such kind hearts and big hearts.

And we are all very similar in the way we feel about encouraging beauty, art, & creativity in

people around us. It's a sort of passion to push people to step outside the box and see the potential
and gifts that lie inside of you.

I hope and am determined to remain friends with this group of people forever if they'll

have me. The line my husband left them with was "Well, we'll see you in heaven." haha!

Seriously, I mean it this time, if you haven't checked out their gig...
Blank Canvas Tour, this would be a good time to do it.

4) Their kids. So So cute and adorable... (ok, right there, I was tempted to use the word "adorbs" but because of the blog post I mentioned above, I will refrain. I dont wish to have stones
thrown at me today, thank you very much). My daughter Jada, nicknamed her little maverick
"The Little Guy." It was so cute. And my kids seriously miss them.
Seriously... adorbs...
auuuughhhh. I'm running. Dont. Thrown Your. Stones.

5) Mostly, I just want to say Thank You to David & Christina...and Krista from Pieces of Life
(and I am totally about to steal a picture from her blog) and their (our) amazingly talented artist friend, Randall for trusting us, for counting us as friends and
and just chilling out with us, hanging out, playing games in which we all act mature...

ok, that wasn't the stolen pic. This is the stolen pic of downtown Milwaukee.
We went to hang out, take some pics, get out of the house.
I mean, I'm not gonna say I had to force them, but .... I had to force them ;)

Ok, not all of them.. haha. Krista was pretty excited to be in the city!

Oh...wait... I almost forgot about the ENORMOUS elephant...
You know the one where you all want to ask me if I "HUGGED" Christina after I made
the big "to do" about how I don't like hugging?
The answer is Yes,. twice. Once upon meeting, once upon saying goodbye.
The only thing that made it awkward was that I had just written that post and now
everyone is wondering if it is OK to hug me. Haha. Let me set the record straight.
Clear the air...ahem... I will hug you if I first meet you. I will hug you if it's been a long time since
I've seen you. I will hug you if I am saying goodbye for a long time.
I will even hug you if you are a hugger even though I'm not. It's not like I'm gonna smack ya.
You just can't expect me to make the first move.
You want a hug from me? Come at me, girl. Hug away.
My arms may be at my sides and I may be making
a face to whoever is standing behind you, but....
Bahahaha... I'm doing it to myself again!
Ok, those of you who I will meet at Influence! Let's just have one giant HUG PARTY
Let's all call each other sweet girl and sweet friend. That way NO ONE feels left out,
no one feels "socially awkward." That's it. It's done. No questions asked.

Ok, here is a little video from the visit!

OH, and don't forget the giveaway from Eisley Rae below. You know you wanna enter!

Monday, June 25, 2012

Shout Out to My Girls!!!

Before you go anywhere, Let me tell you this:

1) I love my girls. I love their blogs. I don't just let them introduce themselves to you,

I let you know what I love about them too. So, don't shut your eyes just because this is a

"Shout Out'...instead, this may be your chance to find something beautiful.

2) MAKE SURE YOU come back tomorrow, because I will be hosting my first GROUP ~~or any kind of~~ GIVEAWAY with adspace, shop credit, gift cards, jewelry

& other made with love, one of a kind Perfection...

P.S. NO, I don't actually play the guitar. That's a total prop. I had to. I'm a cowgirl. Right?

A HUGE thanks to some AMAZINGLY TALENTED & BEAUTIFUL WOMEN!

Ya might wanna stick around for this one!

Meet Joanna from ModaMama

Can I just say I'm totally in love with her freaking ADORABLE pics and style? Just sayin...

About Me:

ModaMama is my personal life and style blog, or at least I like to think so! It's where I share my daily fashion adventures as well as my own special brand of sassy sarcasm about the things that made me smirk and made me frown. It's honest, it's simple and it's my way of trying to stay sane and fashionable while juggling acting, photography, writing, tv hosting, martial arts, family and friends. The friends, and discoveries that have happened along the way are what makes ModaMama completely worthwhile to me. It's my fun side project, my way to reach out to people I may not know and say things like, "Hey, yes that's me you saw on that sausage commercial! How come I'm the only one who hasn't seen it?," or you know, other profound thoughts like that.
My Favorite Post:
I don't have a favorite post, there's posts that are just thoughts, and other that spark some controversy, and others that entertain, but no favorite. I just like to keep moving forward.
THE FUNNY'S FAVE ModaMama Post:
If You Came To My House Unannounced
This post is simple, short and to the point. But the point is good. Being a mom and blogging isn't
always easy, especially when you need pics for your fashion posts.
But it just goes to show what a wonderful Momma Joanna is...

Meet Lena from Mom2MemphisandRuby
Can I just say that this girl rocks SO big time? How can a mom be this cool? Seriously?

About Me:

I am a lot of things... a fashion lover & wannabe photography, a good girl with a thing for tattoos, a wife/sister/daughter/friend... but of all the things I've been or am, a mommy is who I was meant to be! My blog is a collection of all the things I love! Family, Fashion, Fun!

My Favorite Post: Ruby, for a day

This is one of my favorites. It was fun to get inside Ruby's head while I wrote this post. She's such a sassy & spunky little one that it's hard not to blog about her every.single.day. It's a post I'll be happy to look back on with her when she's older! ♥
THE FUNNY'S FAVE Mom2MemphisandRuby Post:
10 Favorite Things About The 90's
Basically, because we are like 2 peas in a pod. All Lena's 90s faves are mine too.
I sure miss Nirvana. (that was extra, free of charge)

Meet Helen from Eat. Enjoy. Live.
Alrighty. I'm just gonna say it. I haven't know Helen long, but to me when I read her life
and blog, two words come to mind. Sweet (ok, super sweet)...and loyal.

About Me:

Eat.Enjoy.Live is my journey to live a better life. Whether its eating better, dressing better, learning new skills, baking up a storm, or learning to be a nicer person. I try and learn something new everyday, and then share it with you! I would love for you to join me on my journey of discovery.

My Favorite Post: Grilled Pepper Salsa

I completely love this salsa. Honestly, I just can't get enough. I make a HUGE batch and then it goes on everything; chicken, sandwiches, chips, salmon, salads. I can also be seen sat in front of the TV with a spoon and my salsa! Yum!
THE FUNNY'S FAVE Eat. Enjoy. Live. Post:
I'm A Blog Angel Not A Stalker, Promise.
I was browsing through her blog and thought this was a perfect example of how incredibly sweet this girl is! Seriously, who doesn't love a little blog love? Ok, a lot blog love.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Where My Girls At?!

I barely have time to say this, to sit down and write...

but I'm gonna anyways, so hear me out for a sec...

This is dedicated to You, all of you who have made me smile

who have talked me through what felt like hell,

but also for those of you, who have been there waiting in the light at the end

a treacherous long dark tunnel.

(Meaning, you weren't there during it, but you most certainly have every

right to be called my friends now!)

It seemed for a good 4-5 years (in MY early 30's)

myself and a few of my closest friends suddenly found ourselves going

through a heckuva time in life.

That's not a good heckuva. Life got sketchy.

There was divorce, crisis, depression, miscarriage, anxiety,

financial difficulties, strained relationships...

and basically very low zeal for life.

I remember when I was young, hearing about the 2nd coming of Jesus,

(or as some people call it, the end of the world)

and not wanting it to happen just yet...because I wanted to get engaged,

have a wedding, have kids, a house FIRST...you know the story.

You most likely have been there too??

But once I got past all that exciting stuff, it's almost as life kicked in...

it suddenly became hard, and I quickly found myself saying..

"Ok God, anytime you wanna take me to heaven, I'm so ready to leave this place."

But, instead God gave me some amazing friends,

who sat and listened to me cry about the same stupid stuff

over and over again, literally for years.

And then life started changing AGAIN, God was healing hearts,

we were happy again, we were determined to not let other people

or circumstances drag us down,

we became fighters...

friends were finding love, finding peace, finding freedom...

as was I, but inside of me it has just been a slower process,

and honestly I've had a few moments where minor things would crush me...

but everyone else was so happy again, I didn't want to bother them

with the same ole, same ole. So I kept the down times to myself..

between me and God.

Mind you, these crushing moments have been few and far between lately,

and honestly I believe are just an attack from Satan to see if he CAN in fact

KEEP me defeated, (which he can not.)

HOWEVER... and this is a BIG HOWEVER....

I don't say this lightly. I met several girls through networking...

and suddenly I was smiling all the time again.

Let me just say this... meeting GIRLS that I could relate to, that had similar creative

inclinations and interests as me, that were so incredibly encouraging...

was ABSOLUTELY, EXACTLY what I needed.

It sounds silly, it sounds like I am merely keeping myself preoccupied

with the internet or social media.

But if are like me, you know that is not the case.

Particularly if you are mom...much of your daily communication is

with 1 year olds, or 3 year olds, or 6 year olds, or 8 year olds...

It's just the way it is... and YOU NEED SOMETHING to let you be YOU,

not only a creative outlet, but friends who get why you do what you do...

here, online... because chances are most of your real life peeps, don't quite

understand it..

I love my blog, I love being creative with it...

writing, graphics, videos, tweeting, instagram....all that is fun.

I really have found my niche with this thing.

However, it can be very time consuming.

But at this point, there are 2 things about it that HONESTLY interest me

1) encouraging others and making them smile

2) having friends like YOU who make me laugh, smile and get me

Seriously, there have been moments where I get choked up, when typing the words

"Exactly!!" to a bloggy friend on twitter, because I have someone that KNOWS what I mean.

My "real life" friends KNEW exactly what I was going through,

because they were going through bits and pieces on their own...

and they were most definitely there for me..

And then when life got full & happy for everyone again..

it still seemed I needed friends that I could really connect with,

and I got me a bunch...

I got you. wink wink...

So I am writing this as both a HUGE thank you, to all my friends...

BOTH real life and online, who have laughed with or at me,

gave me their honest opinions about my stupidity,

let me come barging into their house in tears, complain,

borrowed me all the coins they had

just so I could get a freakin ice cream cone at mcdonalds...

or repeatedly retweeted how amazing a blog post I wrote was...

but in the end, loved me, encouraged me... gave me hope.

But beyond the thank you, this post is also a defense for all my girls online,

who are connecting, making God ordained friendships...

and being such an ENORMOUS encouragement to one another..

It's not just something to do to suck time away from you, it's creating friendships...

and you have a world of people question why you tweet so much,

blog, or why you're so into social media...

(after all its not real life, right?)

I'm just sayin... I get you.. I love connecting online when I have a house full of kids...

playing, yelling, screaming...and there YOU are...

someone to keep me sane, someone that is doing

the exact same thing and laughing about it...

even if it is via tweet, ok?

I know things are different, more complicated,

more techy in this day than they were 10-20 years ago ...

"Life was simpler. why must we 'waste' our time on the internet?"

blah blah blah

Is there beauty to be found there? Yes. I have found so much of it

through you... inside of you... and found hope & inspiration.

Don't shout me down when I'm preachin good, yo.

Anyways, there is NO super awesome way to end this, but to say Thanks to ma' girls..

and Holla !... Where My Girls At?

You are truly sent to me by God, because HE knew what I needed

at this point in my life... it was most definitely the beauty and inspiration of

so many wonderful encouraging women.

ALSO: This week I am co-hosting my first link up!! Woot Woot!!

* * *

Link-ups are all kinds of awesome.
You get new followers and some new super-cool people to follow.

Each week the Totally Social Link-Up will have a different focus.
This is your one-stop-shop for linking up various
social media accounts and similar interests.

This week we are linking-up Hellocotton pages!

Next Week: Bloglovin’

Simple Rules: via Jennifer from MommyHuh

* Follow my Hellocotton page

* Follow the Hellocotton pages for our lovely co-hosts:

Breanna @ My Beautiful Crazy Life

Julie @ The Funny Thing of It Is

Katie @ Little Becky Homecky

Megan @ Semi-Charmed Kind of Life

* Follow 3 or more others and get to know them!

* Grab the button and share!

* LINK-UP & ENJOY!

Word Web Vocabulary

PAGES

SLIDER

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Girl Without A Bff

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

The Things We Cannot Change

Friday, October 19, 2012

A New Chapter

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

10 Things You Should Know Before You Meet Me

Thursday, July 19, 2012

The Big Elephant in the Blog Room

Monday, June 25, 2012

Shout Out to My Girls!!!

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Where My Girls At?!

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