a fresh start

2017 is here and like everyone else I’m sitting down to write the obligatory “Hooray for new beginnings” post.  But before I can look forward to a fresh start, I think there’s some benefit in looking back at all that has come to pass in the previous year. It’s kind of weird, but thinking of what the New Year may hold and what I might be looking back on the next year actually gets me excited for what’s ahead this year.

Not being much of a resolution maker or goal setter. I kind of like to put one foot in front of the other and just go with it. And looking back helps me to assess how much change a year can make and know that everything I’m doing today, will look different in one short year. Does that make sense to anyone else? Maybe it’s just us “change-a-phobics”. Hmm…

2016

I made the decision to close my manicure studio earlier in 2016 and at the end of June, I said goodbye to my clients. Some had been with me the nearly 20 years I’d been doing it. It has been a bittersweet process to let that go. We welcomed grandson number 5 to our crew in March. I made a few trips throughout the year to see far lived family and hosted them a time or two.  And September brought about the start of another one of the biggest changes we’ve made in a long time. After living in the same house for over 18 years, we purchased a fixer upper of a house that requires a complete gut renovation; a first for us. I wasn’t even a blogger at this time last year. After attending my first blog conference in Salt Lake City in February, dimples on my WHAT? was born and it took the next many months to get us up and running.

However, as busy and exciting as this year has been, I see more than just an address change ahead for me. And some small changes to the blog as well.

the blog

I wouldn’t really call what I’ve been doing here, “running”. It’s been more of a snail’s pace as I’ve struggled to find my voice and a niche in the world of blogging. Finding time to write consistently has been more of a challenge for me than I ever thought it would be.  Making a name for myself on social media has proven to be a game that has me feeling more conflicted that connected. It’s so very easy to get caught up in the clamor to get followers and compare myself with others who have been more successful in less time. I spend more time on social media than I do on the actual blog.

when you’re frozen with indecision, your new year’s cleanse may look something like this!

And, I get locked up in trying to do it all the “right way” by having great photos, publishing at prime times and using key words that the search engines will like so that I can get more followers. Some days it just seems like a no win cycle. In the end I just wind up spinning my wheels, doing little to nothing and really not finding joy or fulfillment in it at all.

dimples on my WHAT? in 2017

As I’ve lamented over and over to whoever will listen (or is forced to), it was the Hubs who has consistently reminded me to remember why I wanted to start a blog in the first place. I wanted an outlet for the thoughts and opinions that run rampant in my mind. A place to voice struggles and give tips and solutions that have worked for me. My hope is that something might speak to you and connect us.

And it was the super terrific blogger, Jordan’s (funcheaporfree.com) New Year’s eve post that cemented the idea to do what you love and be true to yourself, whether it’s timed right or technically perfect. I just need to do it my way. I categorized dimples on my WHAT? a “Lifestyle Blog”. But it’s probably more of a “Personal Blog”.

What does that mean?

That means you’re going to get personal posts. Some posts may include rambling like this one. Others may just be plain dumb.  I may include unflattering (like the one above) or mediocre photos and not as many.  I will write on topics that are on my mind, whether they “fit” my blog’s theme or not. I will post ongoing updates on our house remodel. See what I mean about random.

This is not my field of dreams and I have no belief that “if you build it they will come”.  We’ve been built for over half a year and I’ve only got a handful of readers. But I do believe that when you commit something to God, He will honor it if in the direction He has in mind. If my “territory” remains a small handful of women in my very own community but they are finding something here to inspire them, make them laugh, bring them joy then that’s a success. If I help them learn how to clean out a drain or keep their off the shoulder top off their shoulders – I’ll be satisfied in a job well done.  If my expanding dimpled thighs and scattered mind reaches farther, I pray that I will be ready to handle that responsibility with grace and humility.

“Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! 1 Chronicles 4:10

I hope that together we have a beautiful year.  And that you will be blessed by something you find here .

Paula

Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.
 Proverbs 16:3