Missing but Not Forgotten

I realize its been many moons since my appearance on my blogs. Its been an emotional, crazy roller coaster over the past two weeks. However, I will be returning with a vengeance tomorrow night. I have tons of things to catch you up on. Beyond that, I have to write in all my other blogs as well. I have slacked tremendously. I am sure you will understand soon. I hope all things are going well and everyone is ready for some fun, some depth, and a lot of blogging!

17. Write

It doesn't really matter what you write, so long as you do it! Its about expressing and finding yourself. Journaling, poetry, blogging, even prose can bring something out of you that you never knew before. The truth is, before I started blogging, I wrote poetry. I have many, many poems. Some about heartbreak, pain, and fear. Others about joy, excitement, and freedom. I even have the beginnings of a book sitting around here somewhere. Not to mention the multiply journals I have kept throughout the years. I find writing to be therapeutic and invigorating. It seems that anyone willing to give it a real chance gets something out of it. Writing forces you to pull out of your own personal depths to face it on paper.

Catching Up

There is a tug a war within me over getting "back up on the horse" as they say. It has been something I have been looking forward to for so long, but with time have lost some of that great drive I had. I have no fear that it wont return, its just getting back into my grove. I regularly blog in the evenings when my children are asleep and my day is over. Ive gotten used to falling straight to sleep and have lost hours of time I would otherwise be using here and my other blog. However, I will push past the slight resistance and come back with full force. I am so excited to share news and recent events with you!

As you know I moved in October. It has been a major blessing to be back in our own place once again. My husband found a job and is now happily working with benefits and everything. We have Internet in our own home for the first time since our marriage. That is a very big milestone! Do you know what made us get it? YOU! I just couldn't live without blogging. Both my children had birthdays prior to Christmas. No I have a one year old and three year old keeping me busy! We started potty training Ben and are now on the home stretch. Underwear is cool! My baby, Henry, is still not sleeping through the night. You can imagine our disappointment. Other than that, there is very little on the home front to fill in. Christmas was wonderful. The kids loved it! My husband and I shared our 4th anniversary at the beginning of this month as well.

I do have one other big piece of news I would like to share. I am now a proud writer for another blog and magazine! You can check out my blog, Growing Up Around the Table, here. Growing Up in the Valley is a local, family magazine I was originally doing sales for. I wasnt a very good sales person, but I am a much better writer! I look forward to having my work in their print editions as well!

Be on the look our for posts on here as well as there! You can also check out my devotional blog, Missionary Manda's Musings as well.

Chasing Sand

It seems the hourglass of life has allowed the sand to slip through my hands once more. Almost a year exactly has past since I attempted to write on here. My crisis of self has rollercostered it’s way to new heights and depths I can’t possible explain. At this moment, I won’t even try. I will say that I am focusing on it, as much as my mind will allow.

During the process of “focusing,” I made a resolution to make this the most romantic year of my life. This went well for about a month and a half. Not that romance stopped completely, it’s just all the effort won’t make it as real as passion will. Still, I have learned a lot and since passion ebbs and flows, this year may be everything I hoped it would be in the end.

Now, I am making a commitment to spend some time in blogging. Writing is one of the few ways I organize and contain my thoughts. Since this will be one the first summers I will not work since I was a teenager, I am eager to begin this project. Over the past year I have collected many of my journaling ventures to transform into blog posts. From romantic ideas to some of my self searching madness, I have plenty to share.

Its time to put the hourglass on slow motion; maybe even rewind, I want to let you back into my world…

Crying baby; Tuna sandwich

  
 I thought the name of this post was very appropriate for the occasion. If you haven't already guessed, I am eating a tuna sandwich and listening to my son express his dislike for being put down for nap. A random title seemed the best option since I had so much to discuss.

    Considering this is my very first post, I want to cover some of the things I want to explore during the life of this blog. When I first pondered the idea of blogging, it was a distant dream, a hopeful after thought. When I finally got serious, a whole plethora of ideas flowed into my cerebellum. Below I will list some of the questions I wish to answer and a few of the titles that may appear in future posts.

• What am I supposed to do?
• Who am I, really?
• What makes a good mom, not just a good mother?
• What did I learn from my childhood?
• What did I miss? (My childhood and teen years)
• Facing my past, what did I learn?
• The future, what does it hold?
• Love, Life, and Happily Ever After
• Why I like shuffle. 
• Who says I cant do everything?
• Blessings in the mail
• Miracles happen
• The No Good, Very Bad Day
• Plus size and beautiful, dealing with self image
• The beauty queen within
• When Yes means No and Vissa Versa
• Dear Manda, random facts and advice
• What happened? I suddenly grew up.
• Who says "there is no such thing as Prince Charming?"
• Can faith and logic be reconciled?
• Laugh a little
• No longer honeymooners
• Everything I learned, I learned from my mother...

    That is just a few things that I quickly jotted down. I suspect I will have many, many more pop into my mind later on.  Now, over time you will get to know me. Please feel free to ask a question, add a thought, or just point out something I missed. Self exploration is a journey, Im inviting you to come along and be apart of my team. So team, we're off!