You, Me and Coffee | Real Winter

Hey blog friends! Happy there’s-a-big-snow storm-coming-soon week! 😉

So. I have a lot to talk about, but I’m not really sure where to start. Blogging has been hard for me lately. Being personal and open on the internet used to be really easy for me, but something changed and I don’t know when. I went through a long period of time when I didn’t want to share anything and when I did, it was very reserved and safe. But something is changing again. My heart wants to be real and honest and intentional with this little space I call my blog. So here we go. Warning: it’s about to get real deep real fast.

Mostly what I’ve been thinking about during these first few weeks of 2015 is “ENOUGH”. Or, in my case, lack of enough. Gosh, guys, the internet is a beast. A good beast in some ways, like finding you really great inspiration or teaching you how to do things you’ve always wanted to do. But it’s a not-so-good beast when you sit there and compare yourself to people you don’t even know. Some days, my heart wants what everyone else has (or appears to have). Seeing people on adventures and doing amazing things and having a ton of success, hey, I’m really happy for them, but hey, I’m also really jealous. I’m jealous for things I’m probably not REALLY jealous for (hi, children. hi, living in the south. hi, hiking very tall mountains every weekend.), but seeing them gets me thinking like, hey, maybe that would be really cool, so let’s dwell about all those cool things for hours and then be sad that that will never be my life. I’m not cool enough for that life. I’m not smart enough for that success. I’m not ‘big’ enough for that following. Ect, ect, ect. So yeah, 2015 hasn’t started out perfectly, but I’m working through these lies in my heart and talking with God a lot these days. I’m cleaning up my feeds, pairing down on internet time, and increasing time with Him. And time with my husband, and time in nature, and time with real people and friends who speak truth into my life. It’s a process, right? It’s a process. And the more realness we see on the internet, the easier the process is. At least that’s what I’m telling myself so I’ll actually share this with ya’ll.

SO ANYWAYS.

Other (less deep) things of note:

~*~ I signed up for a sprint triathlon this fall! I was a competitive swimmer from 4th-12th grade and used to do the swim portion of a local triathlon with my parents when I was a kid (11-14). I’ve been coaching a swim team the last two seasons and although I’m AT the pool 3-4 times a week, I haven’t actually swam at all! So I’m craving to get back in the pool. When I swam as a kid, I had a reason for it (to win races!), and since I’ve never been a swimmer without a reason to swim, I thought signing up and training for a triathlon would be a pretty good reason. Swimming will come back to me pretty quickly, and running is something I do a few times a week anyways, but it’s the biking that I’m nervous about! Have any of you ever raced a Tri? Any tips for me?

~*~ In two weeks I’ll be spending 4 days in Portland, Maine at a photography retreat called Inspire. I’ve heard so many good things about this retreat and I’m really excited to meet a bunch of great photographers and learn some really important stuff. But honestly, I’m freaked out of my mind. I don’t feel grown up enough to do this and I feel like I’m still too new in the industry to be around these amazing photogs and business people! I know that more often than not I’m going to be pretty intimidated and very awkward. #prayforme

~*~ My Etsy shop has been pretty lucky lately. Lucky, as in, people surprisingly want the stuff I doodle. Weird, right? It’s been a fun way to stay creative over these cold weeks of no photo shoots. (Dear Spring, come quick.)

Thanks for reading, friends! ~S