why blog? why now?

i remember when i first heard about blogs. at the time i could not imagine having something to write about that would be interesting enough to be read by others. therefore, i didn't give blogging another thought.......until recently. don't get me wrong - i don't think i now have anything interesting to write about - instead - what i have developed is a love of writing.

a couple years ago some friends and i took a very informal writing class. our writings stemmed from a variety of prompts given to us from our "teacher"...a term i use loosely here b/c really i don't think she was educated as a writer herself. she would say things like "red" or "i remember" and off we'd go. these "prompted" writings led to journaling which i would do quite regularly at times - and other times quite sporadically...but nevertheless - i'd find myself yearning to journal and really missing the times i didn't "find" the time to sit alone and write.

i have a close friend that i write to daily. most of our emails are silly. others are not. we can get pretty deep on a variety of topics - family, our kids, parenting, self worth...so on and so on. many times we've jokingly said that we should have our own website so that we could keep our emails forever b/c quite frankly we had alot of good stuff in them. lately our thoughts turned to blogging.

right around that time i stumbled upon some blogs that i really enjoy reading....from some pretty interesting women. besides the wonderful writings - i was struck by the photos that accompanied each post. photography is not something i've studied - but it is something i've really begun noticing lately. i have a simple digital camera that i use - nothing fancy. i upload and save on my harddrive. i've started making photobooks of the usual stuff - vacations, my kids...........but there are pictures that i take specifically to coincide with a thought or feeling in my head - that don't fit the categories of my photobooks..........

so - combine my love of writing - specifically journaling - and add to it my newfound love of phototaking...........and voila - i got the ingredients of a blog! it also helped cure a problem i had of having one too many journals going at one time. i love notebooks. i buy them whenever i go into a store. i buy whatever catches my eye - simple hello kitty ones to beautiful moleskin ones. each journal has a specific purpose. it is hard keeping them all straight - they never seem to be filled either....and they never seem to have a picture included with them. having an online journal keeps all my writings in one place and my accompianing photos. its perfect.

who is my audience? who knows. in my mind- i am writing to a large crowd of blogging peers...super hip women who love taking a picture - and adding words to it. women who don't want to bitch about kids or husbands - but instead want to capture beauty and share it.

in actuality - i am just writing to cindy - who is the only one who knows about my blog - and is probably the only one reading it.

and as for yak? that was my nickname in highschool............

Changing course

when i first started this blog - my intentions were different. i wanted to change my ways - i wanted to eat better, cook better, parent better. i am constantly striving to be "better"...and while trying to grow as a person isn't a bad thing....its not what i was doing.

what i am doing is looking at my life the wrong way. i have a wonderful life. i have 2 amazing boys, a wonderful husband, a comfortable lifestyle. i am blessed with good health and friendships with some of the wisest women around. so instead of trying to improve what i am doing - i should just see - and i mean REALLY see - the beauty in what i already have. focusing on the positive creates more positives.

so that is my goal with this blog - posting the positives. that isn't to say there won't be negative days - there will be - and those days aren't bad. they are learning experiences that i will cherish....and use as such. they just won't define me.