The Beginning of the End

Alright, it happened. The thing I always went in between “I don’t want to, but I feel like I should” and “I want to, but I don’t think I should.” *sigh*

That’s right, I joined the blogosphere.

Probably 95% boredom, 5% because I wanted to, but 100% because I just needed another social media outlet to keep track of.

Not really. I mostly took the leap because of all the exciting things coming up in my life, including completing my first year of teaching (shoulda kept a blog from day one… oh the stories I would tell!), celebrating my upcoming wedding and marriage to the man of my dreams (my partner in crime, my best friend, my one-and-only-mushy-gushy-insert-unnecessary-social media-endearment-and-proclamation-of-love-here), and oh, a few moves across the country thrown in here and there for a dash of good fun. Not a big deal.

(That's him on the right... mushy gushy proud moment comment here)

I don’t particularly know what I’m going to write about. All the blogs I read are about categories such as food, photography, crafts, child-rearing, or NFP and the Catholic faith. I’m going to try to give you an exciting snippet and quick take on of all of these things, just to keep you coming back wanting more!  

1.        Food –

I’m a culinary whiz. Here’s a picture of the frozen pizza I ate for dinner recently.

2.        Photography

Here’s a picture of the frozen pizza I ate recently in black and white. Stand back and let the awesomeness soak into your eyeballs.

3.        Crafts

Last fall I decided to take on the project of redoing my boring kitchen table that I bought last summer at a garage sale. It wasn’t bad, but just not my style. Forever on Pinterest stalking other peoples’ genius, I saw a picture that showed a stenciled table top with a dark-stained top and teal legs, and I thought, “Hey, that would match my kitchen! Sounds like a great idea!”

(Not mine, though I wish)

And so I proceeded to spend some hard earned cash on some painting supplies, scoured the internet for a cool stencil idea, went to work applying my skills I learned in 4-H, and voila! I should have a finished table soon!

Should.

But alas, that project began back in January during some stir crazy snow days, and has yet to be finished. I’ll keep you updated. Perhaps my 7 children can pose around the table the day I complete it.

(that's the Von Trapp family standing around my completed table, happy and singing a song without a Nazi in sight)

So I’m not quite a craft whiz. Mostly I’ll show you the projects that I like to start and not finish.

If you want some awesome craft inspiration or all around display of awesomeness, go to my beautiful sister's blog.

4.        Child Rearing

7 fictional children posing around a table leads me to my next point.

My take on kiddos is this - I love them. Very much. I especially love the ones I can love up on, squeeze, watch silly kid movies with, spin around, exchange funny conversations, and promptly hand them back to their parents when a dirty diaper or temper tantrum interrupts my hopes and dreams of being the perfect parent someday. Darn those unrealistic expectations of mine.

Notice: Child rearing conversation shall henceforth be put on hold until the good Lord says otherwise. So there.

5.        NFP and the Catholic Faith

Ahh, the true reason I was pulled into the blog world. There are so many wonderful women and men who write about their experiences with Natural Family Planning and how that coincides with their faith. I have sought out so many blogs on NFP over the past year it would make your head spin. As I’m learning (I’m quite the novice since Luke and I just started our NFP journey last fall… more on that later), I am becoming more and more fascinated by other peoples’ stories on how this choice has changed their lives, marriage, faith, etc. I hope that I will eventually be able to add my humble voice to theirs as we continue our journey over the years.

And last but most certainly not least, the Catholic Church. I want so badly to be able to write intelligent, thought-provoking, insightful conversation about the faith that I love so much. But the truth is it would sound more like “Whoa!! Did you guys know that there is a patron saint of the internet!? I wonder if I can follow him on Twitter?!” (tehehe lame joke)

Insightful and uplifting there, Ems. Someone alert the Vatican, we got a future theologian on our hands.

In truth, I am a cradle Catholic that grew up in a faith that she did not truly understand until it came down to a choice-  learn it or leave it. That journey began in 2010 when I went away to college, another story for another time. I am continuing to try my darnest to learn, grow, understand, trust, and wrap my head and heart around the beauty that is my Catholic faith.

So all in all, I have no idea what I’m going to write about. Mostly it will probably be ramblings about silly things my students said or did, the craziness of planning a wedding, the hilarity of my family and friends, life as a new Army wife, and all the adventures I encounter in between.

So, to all of my droves of readers, welcome! Thanks for coming on the adventure with me!

(AKA, hey Mom.)