Evolution of my Little Blog

I was just thinking about the evolution of my blog.  At various stages of its life, this blog has had very different focuses...foci...

When I first started blogging, it was honestly as a stepping stone to letting the world know I liked to write.  I blogged mostly about what God was teaching me and the creative side of life.

• Dreams 
• A Dark Night 
• Runaway Train
• Nearsighted

These posts were written on my original blog. One that no one knew about.  I was writing "publicly" but the public had no idea.

Then my blog became about a new start. A new career, a new blog, a new focus.

• I Think God is Trying to Tell Me Something
• Focus
• Eating an Elephant
• The Lies we Listen to

Then beginning with this post a whole new focus for my blog emerged.  I started writing about my love for cooking and photography.  I was reading a lot of Pioneer Woman at the time and loved what she did with her blog so I started going down that road.  I think it was the real beginning of my blog.

• Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad with Brussels Sprouts
• 103 Won't Get them down
• Creamy Pasta with Roasted Zucchini
• Almonds and Basil
• Slow Cooker Mac N Cheese
• Grilled Zucchini Rolls
• Cheesy Crescent Chicken Rolls
• Apple Pie in an Apple
• Starbucks DIY Breakfast Sandwiches

I mixed in some true Kim with some honest posts about where I was at but it was mostly about my food.  It got to the point that all my friends called it a food blog. To this day people still call it a food blog. ITS NOT A FOOD BLOG.  

• I'll Be Honest, Part 1
• I'll Be Honest, Part 2
• Do you really hate being single?

Somewhere along the way, it just got to be about life.  What I loved, liked, wished for.  

• Love to Create
• Come on Irene
• Oh What to Do

In all of this, i was randomly writing reflective posts on what I was learning in the midst of life

• Stuck in The Mud
• Church of New York
• Faith & Trust
• Chasing a Pipe Dream
• Sweet Discipline
• Right Things to Say
• The Challenge of Being a Writer
• God's Box: Still Trusting
• What I am learning from a ball of yarn

I even began using my blog to be the main advertiser of my growing Etsy Shop.

• Creating for the Sell
• Cyber Mondays
• Black Friday Sale Fun 
• Cyber Monday & Update
• Fall is in the Air

The late spring of this last year I started getting more involved in the blogging world. Joining link ups, entering giveaways, etc.  My blog changed almost drastically. In some ways it was great. I was getting exposure. I was seeing other writing styles, other ways of expressing yourself but i was also getting more readers.  

• 2012 Ultimate Blog Party
• Pinning Party

I went from 30 something followers to the 200s in a matter of weeks.  

I even got to the point of taking on advertisers & sponsors.  Many days my blog was about the giveaways and the sponsors.  I found it hard to keep up with it and started to lose my voice as a writer.

Once the high of the growth dwindled down, I started reflecting more on who I was as a writer, a blogger, a friend. I am still reflecting on who that is. I am still trying to find out who I am and where I want my blog, my writing to go.  What I love about the blogging community is that I can take my time to figure it out and I don't have to be boxed in to one specific style. My followers will change. My focus will change and that's ok.

How has your blog evolved? Have you found your own niche?  Are still trying to find your voice?

Creating for the Sell

Been knitting a lot lately in the hopes of selling on Etsy to earn some extra income.  I am beginning to be a knitting monster with about 3 to 4 projects going at a time.  I am a little ADD when it comes to what I am doing or what I want to do.  Caught between what I want to try and what I think will sell.

Its hard thinking of your audience, your potential audience and your reality.  Especially when you are selling primarily on a site that sees thousands of entries a day (probably in a minute). I love Etsy and what it offers but you are competing with many others who are potentially more talented then you are.

With all of that being said, I have to take pictures that help sell my items.  When some of them are articles of clothing or accessories, you need to shoot them in context.  That's tough when you are solo... but it allows me to be creative, which lets be honest, I love to do.

As you are my audience, let me know what you'd buy, what looks good to you?  Will give me a little direction on what I should focus on. Don't worry its not committing you to buy. I just want your input.

Day 37: Eating an Elephant

I am the kind of girl that tries to find teachable moments in EVERYTHING... even in moments that are just, well, moments.  Meaning? I over think everything.  I am not sure when this started but has definitely been my life for the last few years. I think it’s my way of sifting through this life I live.  There has to be some meaning to where I am, what I am doing and whom I am doing it with. 

Who knows why I do it but most days it actually serves me well.  It allows me to see things from another perspective, which in turn pushes me to grow more.  Lately it’s pushed me to seek God's heart more, which is always a good thing.

The last 6 weeks have been new, exciting, scary, intriguing, and so many other adjectives.  My test of trust in the Lord has not once been denied.  I have had moments of wavering and questioning but the knowledge of why I did what I did hasn't wavered, just the how.  

The last 2 weeks, I have been fighting a virus of some sort.  The dreaded Flu has been my enemy.  Keeping me from work, fun days in the sun, and truly enjoying living. It tried its hardest to keep me from 4th of July fun but I resisted, probably to my own disadvantage.  I tried in those 2 weeks to find what God might be teaching me.  Is He teaching me patience? Rest? What?  Maybe, on some levels yes, but to be honest I don't think I learned much more then in those areas then I had already been learning.  I did learn simple truths, like: Your worth is not defined by what you do (or don't do).  Your body needs complete rest.  Editing photos drains you a lot more then you'd ever think.  And you can rely on your "family" to take care of you. Its ok!

This time has definitely left me scrambling in some ways.  My livelihood is dependent on my motivation, my focus, and my energy.  If I don't work, then I don't earn money, then I don't pay bills, etc etc.  I get that I am blessed to have people who are willing to support me but that can only go so far.  It can only last so long.  I also get that starting your own business takes time.  But being sick for two weeks definitely has taken the steam out of my engine.  I am left with questions, concerns, and confusion.  

My struggle, though, isn't really on the lack of motivation.  Its on the faith and trust I have in the Lord. I have never doubted His promptings to bring me to the place I am at. I have never questioned that, so why am I doing that now?  Its natural I guess.  Part of the human process.

So what do I do now?  I regroup.  I pray... ALOT.  And I move forward.  God has been faithful so far and he will continue to be faithful.  

One idea that my best friend and I use with each other a lot, especially when things get overwhelming, is the idea of eating an Elephant.  You don't try and it eats it in one sitting. You take it one bite at a time.  We often see the big things in front of us. We see our human ability to accomplish those hurdles and can often be sidetracked, overwhelmed and discouraged.  We see the big picture and not the details in between.  Life was never meant to be taken in all at once. Its a process and is racked full of processes. 

My journey is not over.  It’s just starting. The Mountain I have to climb is just getting started.  (WOW SO MANY METAPHORES).   I love challenges. I love adventures.  If it were a literal mountain, I’d look at it, grit my teeth and plunge through. I wouldn't get part way up and go, "nope, can't do it." I don't have that personality.  I would be too stubborn to ever do that. So why do I want to default to that now?  If I were on an expedition across the country and ran out of gas in Pennsylvania, I wouldn't turn back and go home.  I'd find a way to make the rest of the trip happen. I'd be too excited about the rest of the country I was about to see.   So here we go. Onward and upward.

Day 4: Focus Focus Focus - June 7th

I have always been the type of person who is either over committed or unmotivated. Never in between. When I decided to leave my 9 to 5 job to pursue my artistic passions I was worried that I would go from totally over committed and over worked to completely unfocused. It’s been somewhat true. Focus and motivation have been a struggle to say the least. I had a few things I needed to get figured out before I could make progress on anything. I needed to get organized mentally and physically. I also needed to set up the practical items in order to start my business. Things like my website, photo packages, and other projects. This process can't happen over night and somehow I overlooked that fact.

I am learning that I am a little impatient. I want to be able to sit down and figure things out in 1 hour or less. Taking hours, days or weeks to put something together was not in my plan. But realistically it has to be, doesn't it? I can't set up a business over night. It takes time and focus. My only problem with time is that it doesn't put food on the table or pay the rent.

I am also learning that I am a results driven person. I feel like I haven't done anything when I can't see fruits of my labor. Research doesn't bring results right away. It takes time. I spent the entire day researching ways to set up my website. I am a little more educated, but I am not much further along then when I started the day. I think somewhere in the back of my head I thought that I would almost have the website set up. Not realistic is it? Now when I look back on my day, I tend to think it was a waste. Letting myself off the hook is something I will have to do. I can't create a business in a day. And likely it can't be done in a week.

Doubts have been creeping in over the last few days. What did I do? Why did I do it? Was it premature? Are you sure you want to spend your days doing this, pursuing this? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? I spent some time with the Lord this morning. In that time I remembered one thing I needed to get out of this time of discovery. I wanted to draw closer to Him. I wanted to pursue his heart. Even if it meant I was poor and unfed. I think that is more my goal than anything else. I don't know what all of this is going to look like in the long run. Will I be a photographer? Will I be a writer? Will I go back to the admin world? Will I be a creator? I don't know! And in some ways, I am not all that worried about what things will look like as long as I am drawing on the strength of the Lord to order my steps. As long as I am falling more and more in love with Him as my father, my creator, my Lord, I don't care what tomorrow looks like. Being content in how he has created me is more important than having any other label. Resting in that knowledge is the only thing that will get me through another day. If I put my faith in my abilities and in my expectations for my career then I will never get very far.

Original Post