Friday, December 30, 2011

favorite bloggers of 2011 . . .

i freely admit that i get overwhelmed by facebook, i'm intermittent with twitter, and the jury is still out on my staying power with pinterest. oh i do still love my blogs though. i guess i'm old school that way. i love blogs that share creative eye candy for sure. but beyond that i enjoy bloggers who are passionate about life. i love reading their thoughts, dreams, the beautiful details of their everyday. i love the real connection with real people. i think i would be best buddies with these girls if we lived a little closer. so sharing the love with those who have entertained me, motivated me, and inspired me this year i bring you my top ten blog reads of 2011 (in no particular order). and i would appreciate it so much if you would share your favorites with me. i am always on the lookout for new blog reading material. tia!

shimelle laine - i was lucky enough to meet this sweet girl once. she brought me a coke in a pepsi establishment. my heart will ever belong to her. i call her nasa girl. i am mightily jealous of her globe trotting ways. and she's a scrappy sharing machine. a scientist with an artists soul and gypsy feet. i think we are sisters in a split universe.

karen grunberg - she blogs. she sets goals. she blogs. she perseveres. she blogs. she has deep thoughts. she blogs. she takes gorgeous flower photos and edits them so beautifully. she blogs. she stretches and grows and makes me want to be more than i am. and when no one else provides me reading material. she blogs.

jill sprott - her work is so amazingly creative. so richly detailed. but her words. wow. her words are art too. she crafts them so well. each hand selected so carefully. she's not afraid to let her intelligence show. she's raising her daughter to be an intelligent and giving woman. i admire her greatly.

lisa dickinson- humor is a wonderful thing. i learned this from elmo. my dad elmo, not the furry red guy. although he's kinda funny and a good guy too. the ability to laugh at yourself is critical. lisa has a very healthy dose of laughter in her life. she can laugh at her imperfections. better yet, she can laugh at her perfections. and the best part of all. she shares her laughter with the rest of us. thanks for the laughs lisa.

sharyn tormanen- i love the everydayness of her blog. i love her story telling. i love her list making. i love her practicality. i love that she got to ride in an air balloon this year. i love that i "knew" her when she only had two kiddos and now she has four and the oldest is driving. solid family life. solid ethics. a solid read that i look forward to each day.

anja wade- she has such a unique sense of style. it really pulls me in. it also amuses me that she makes the 80's look so cool. i'm a child of the 80's you know. i mean she brings home rainbow unicorns from the thrift shop. how neato is that? way enjoy this one.

julie fei-fan balzer - julie embraces her art with such enthusiasm. and she's so enthusiastic about sharing her love of art with others. she's so encouraging. you CAN do art! she says. do it! her posts are so instructional too. a blogger very giving of her knowledge and talents.

karen russell - beautiful photography. a gentle humble soul. darling family dynamic. you can see the love growing here. and this year's footnotes to her deployed husband are so poignant.

pioneer woman- wowzas. if you haven't read her, well, where have you been? great photos. great stories. great fun. the ordinary. the extraordinary. lots of laughs. good food. adorable pets. lots of laughs. did you catch the one about the donut. ha!

patrice williams - i knew this girl when she was still a girl. i found her this year after a very long time. i am so proud to know her. she lives her life with such grace. she reminds me to stay grounded in my faith.

new year aims . . .

do you make new year's resolutions? i haven't in a while. and when i have they've been the typical boring ones that nobody keeps. at least i never keep them. i know i was in a complete funk about it last year. i just ignored the whole new year rolling in thing. i was tired. completely worn out. turns out i was anemic. not good doris. this year i feel awesometastic about life in general and the coming year specifically. hello 2012! you're going to be a great one! i've been playing with pencil and paper. generating lists. so exciting. i've also been reading some great blog posts that have been very motivating. what? you want to be motivated too? read karen grunberg's blog. i just love that she spends the whole month of december contemplating what she wants to work on in the coming year. she inspires me to be more than i am right now. and read this post by elsie. so practical and cheerful. it really helped me hone my ideas. so this is what i've come up with. a list of aims for the coming year. "i aim to" is such a nice southern expression. said with all sincerity. if it is in my being i will do it. this is what i aim for. not a resolution put before congress. not a goal that i must race to score as i dodge the defensive linesmen in my path. just "aim for the moon. if you miss you may hit a star." - w. clement stone

these are all phrased positively in my mind. they all have some fun aspect to them. they are all things that g and i will both enjoy and benefit from. this is just a brief run-down. i'll explain them more as i get to them in the coming weeks . . .

weekly:
nature study
art journal
the menu plan
papa chronicles
pinteresting

monthly:
geting crafty
quality literature
gman novels
scrappy classes
take a hike
do run run
mini-albums

btw. the pic above is my crafty loving boy (pre haircut). i brought home a bag of fabric scraps from jenni's (i always accept fabric scrap handouts). the gman was quite captivated by them and sewed this little snake all on his own. isn't it fabulous? isn't he fabulous?