Good morning!
I normally have an issue with bloggers apologizing for an absence and promising to start writing again, because those promises are almost always followed by three weeks of silence and then a meager post about an amusing experience at the grocery store. But I have been half-absent for, really, several months, and I think the best thing to do is to mention why I took a break, so I can best justify my belief in my soon-to-be amazing comeback (I still haven’t decided how much of a joke that is).
Several things have happened since I started this blog. First, it took a different form than I had expected it to. What was intended as a travel log for my family (and a way to justify my gap year) became something I enjoyed and wanted to expand, and it gained a tiny audience. (Although my empty comment pages don’t show it, there are about 75 of you, and for each one of you I am very grateful.) It started feeling a little weird to plaster a ton of pictures of my own face on my blog once I had an audience. The original decision to do this was because:
a. They’re more interesting than a generic picture of a monument and/or what I had to eat that day.
b. I wanted to respect the privacy of the people I was living and traveling with.
c. I am too poor to afford stock photos.
Not necessarily because, as they might imply:
a. I like my face.
b. I like my face.
c. I really, really like my face.
The second change was that I started college. Not only did my adventures become significantly less international, but suddenly, many of them involved people I’d only just met, whom I didn’t want to (immediately) scare away by writing about on internet.
Thirdly, I met this specific person with whom I spent the summer traveling, but I felt a little weird including that person in almost all my posts and pictures. Writing without including them felt dishonest, and would take away almost all my funny stories- but I didn’t want to become That Girl Who Always Writes About [A Specific Person]. Besides, it was new. Who knew how long I would even have a travel companion? It felt a little tacky (and risky) to put that online.
But I missed blogging. I missed my shy, quiet audience. I missed putting my face all over everything and then worrying about privacy concerns.
So now I’m back. Here’s what you missed this winter:
To make up for my semi-Jewish semi-Christmas last year, I celebrated 3.5 Christmases. More to come.
Dinosaur included at Nativity for Biblical accuracy.
I spent most of my break in Holland with the Illustrator (the Specific Person) and his family. We went to Strasbourg, France GermanyFrance Germany France for a couple of days, and all was lovely. More to come, I think.
I quit social networking and suddenly had the time to pick up knitting for the first time since I was ten. The Illustrator was a very good sport and generously became the recipient of the largest portion of my knitwear.
I’d like to say that he was more enthusiastic about the whole ordeal
than the bottom right image implies.
than the bottom right image implies.
Total count: seven hats, two ear warmers, and a giant scarf.
I am undecided as to how much more of that there is to come.
And here’s what I’m hoping to pull together in the next few months:
- · A new website. My friend is a web designer, and has been working on a new site for me, complete with maps and butterflies. We have lots of fun ideas for layout and features, and I hope it will make the blog more dynamic and fun to visit.
- · With the new website, more content. It would be nice to write about things other than my face. Ideas include:
o Book reviews. One of my 15 New Year’s resolutions (go big or go home) is to read 50 books this year, and I intend to review some of them for you and for my own enjoyment. Potential reviews include The Year of Biblical Womanhood by Rachel Held Evans; Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis by Lauren F. Winner; and Just My Type by Simon Garfield. If you have any recommendations or requests for reviews, please leave them in the comments now or in the future!
o Craft tutorials. Believe it or not, I craft a lot, and I’d like to share some of my simpler or more interesting crafts in the form of tutorials for those who are interested.
o Easily-digestible guides to things that I’ve done some research on, like ethical shopping (lists of brands and websites that don’t use sweatshop labor in their manufacturing, etc.). I’ve found these sorts of things difficult to navigate in the past and good guides are hard to find (especially on things like ethical shopping, for which most of the options make you look like a fifty year old cat lady), so I’m hoping that I can help out anyone with similar sensibilities and interests.
…And, of course, lots of traditional posts on my travels and shenanigans. I’m planning on dividing these different types into tabs on my new blog, so you can only read the things that interest you.
I’m also hoping to slowly increase feedback and interactivity on the blog, so I’d really appreciate your comments now or later. I’m wary of making too many big promises, but, as I said, go big or go home. If I don’t try, I’ll never get anywhere.
Thanks for coming along for the ride. (:
With love,
Sara
