What's In A Name...A Meadowlark's Nest
Over the past several weeks, I have been contemplating a name change for my little blog.
It always seems like the good ones are taken...
...*wink*
But when I really started thinking about the direction I wanted to take my blog...the types of things I wanted to share...and the relationships I have with my readers...
...I found myself drawn back to my love of all things simple...
FAITH in God...my love of FAMILY...and my passion for FARMHOUSE style decorating.
It's funny, no? How we as women are constantly trying to "reinvent" ourselves? It's like we're trying to push our foot into a shoe that just doesn't fit...even though that shoe is sooooooo cute.
Remember when I first started my blog...
...and its title was From Our Front Porch Looking In?
*CRICKETS*
I know...it was a long time ago! Five years this October to be exact. And those were the days when blogging made me happiest.
When I was sharing glimpses of the happenings inside our Greek Revival-style farmhouse with its huge wrap-around porch *love*
When I wasn't trying to share deep and theological posts...when I wasn't trying to figure out what my readers expected from me...or what mold I fit into.
Five years ago, I was a brand new stay-at-home mom, terrified of what I would do with myself and my two little ones all day, while all my girlfriends continued to work. I discovered blogging and quickly found a creative outlet for my writing...a new group of friends...a passion for all things home...and a deepening of my faith.
Today, I am a newly-returned part-time working mom, blessed with THREE cute kids, confident in my own personal and decorating style and more in love with my Catholic faith than ever before. I am so proud of the children that my husband and I are raising...of our love that has endured through trials and heartaches to reach a 20-year wedding anniversary...and the home that we have built to make our safe haven.
So why...A Meadowlark's Nest?
After years of fighting against the tide (pun intended!)...of constantly wanting to relocate or move "back home" (Kansas City is not my hometown)...I made the decision to be happy...
Exactly.Where.I.Am
In Kansas. Flyover Country. The Heartland. Home of wheat fields and sunflowers and the tall grass prairie.
(The western meadowlark is the state bird of Kansas. A songbird known for nesting in the tall prairie grasses.)
And so a blog title was born...one that evokes images of the beauty and simplicity found in nature and country living. As I "feather our nest" with bits of faith, family, and farmhouse style, I hope to show that home can be a haven wherever your heart (and family!) live.
It always seems like the good ones are taken...
...*wink*
But when I really started thinking about the direction I wanted to take my blog...the types of things I wanted to share...and the relationships I have with my readers...
...I found myself drawn back to my love of all things simple...
FAITH in God...my love of FAMILY...and my passion for FARMHOUSE style decorating.
It's funny, no? How we as women are constantly trying to "reinvent" ourselves? It's like we're trying to push our foot into a shoe that just doesn't fit...even though that shoe is sooooooo cute.
Remember when I first started my blog...
...and its title was From Our Front Porch Looking In?
*CRICKETS*
I know...it was a long time ago! Five years this October to be exact. And those were the days when blogging made me happiest.
When I was sharing glimpses of the happenings inside our Greek Revival-style farmhouse with its huge wrap-around porch *love*
When I wasn't trying to share deep and theological posts...when I wasn't trying to figure out what my readers expected from me...or what mold I fit into.
Five years ago, I was a brand new stay-at-home mom, terrified of what I would do with myself and my two little ones all day, while all my girlfriends continued to work. I discovered blogging and quickly found a creative outlet for my writing...a new group of friends...a passion for all things home...and a deepening of my faith.
Today, I am a newly-returned part-time working mom, blessed with THREE cute kids, confident in my own personal and decorating style and more in love with my Catholic faith than ever before. I am so proud of the children that my husband and I are raising...of our love that has endured through trials and heartaches to reach a 20-year wedding anniversary...and the home that we have built to make our safe haven.
So why...A Meadowlark's Nest?
After years of fighting against the tide (pun intended!)...of constantly wanting to relocate or move "back home" (Kansas City is not my hometown)...I made the decision to be happy...
Exactly.Where.I.Am
In Kansas. Flyover Country. The Heartland. Home of wheat fields and sunflowers and the tall grass prairie.
(The western meadowlark is the state bird of Kansas. A songbird known for nesting in the tall prairie grasses.)
And so a blog title was born...one that evokes images of the beauty and simplicity found in nature and country living. As I "feather our nest" with bits of faith, family, and farmhouse style, I hope to show that home can be a haven wherever your heart (and family!) live.
Love the new look...the new title...and the new feel, my sweet friend.
ReplyDeleteAs I told you before...I will follow you wherever you go! : )
Billie Jo...I poured over your words in your email to me...reading and rereading...contemplating and praying! I then spoke with Colleen...and she echoed your sentiments that I should keep on blogging...so I decided to go back to blogging how I am most comfortable. Everytime I visit your blog...I just want to stay a bit longer...reach through the virtual world and hang out with you...your home, your style, your family...they resonate with me dear friend! Wishing you a wonderful weekend!!! (P.S. Now I don't need to keep creating new blogs to reinvent what I already am! A simple country girl.) :)
DeleteLove, love, love the name change!
ReplyDeleteI will always be popping by my friend.
M :)
PS: Are you keeping your "teaching blog?"
Thanks, Melinda! Yes. Coincidentally, somebody just started following my teaching blog and asked me to start posting over there again. Funny...I've been so caught up in the actual art of teaching I hadn't even remembered to blog about it!
DeleteI like it! Change can be good. I like your choices. I wish I could learn to be happy where I am as well. (Not sure I will ever feel such fondness for Houston.)
ReplyDeleteHello dear friend! Let me tell you...right now the "happiness right where I am" is a MASK that I have to put on! LOL BUT, I really do believe this, I think that if I tell myself that I am happy enough times, I will eventually truly feel that way. Part of me keeps wanting to resist...to get down and dirty with they husband and "sell him" on all the reasons that we should relocate...,but I know that it wouldn't be the right thing to do. Truly, at the heart of me, I am a beach girl. I feel the deepest peace when I am walking along the shores of the beautiful Gulf Coast. But, in Kansas City we are close to family....and I need to focus on the beauty that comes from my children being able to see their grandparents and aunt and uncles more frequently...even if we are 4 hours away.
DeleteI know your situation is different...you are so much farther away from our beloved STL! :) And that heat... ugh
I'm sure you already know and do this...but I am constantly telling myself...this is my cross to bear (living in KC)!
Thanks so much for dropping by...I know you've got your hands full!
HUGS!
Love the new look and style....can't wait to come back...it's been a while, but I'll be here more regularly...I'm trying to balance online time with "life" and feel the former is getting too much of a ficus. When I'm online I'd also like to be balanced and reading friends' posts, not only blogging myself or linking up to parties. I'm cutting back on signing up for blog events and link ups, etc....too much time. My blog is not going to be hugely followed and not a money maker. I;m not good at that and I didn't get into blogging for those reasons anyway, so I'm rethinking time spent at my space as well........The blogs I follow are those of friends who rejuvenate me with their words and pics. Just a few min reading a friend's thoughts really gives me a boost to jump start the next few hours or so...... So I do look fwd to whatever it is you write on: fam, faith, your home changes/styles, I'll be here.
ReplyDeleteLove the title and header...good luck! With everything.