My sister made this Easter cake especially for my daughter.  The cake itself was yummy, but we've been saving the egg itself because it's so cute.  When my sister brought the cake over, she told Audrey that the egg was a dinosaur egg, and that's why it's so much bigger than the bunny.  So when we finally decided to crack into the egg today, Audrey was surprised to see that it was made of rice crispies.  "Where's the dinosaur?!"  Gotta love her.

a closer look

To write or not to write. THAT is the question.

image source here

Yesterday was the first day of Beyond Blogging for Scrapbookers.  I got so caught up in looking through people's blogs that I 1) didn't get to write my own entry, and 2) forgot to feed my kid lunch.  Yeah... it was probably a good thing that she was going to be with her grandmother for the rest of the day.  

Quite a few people wrote about how they started blogging and why.  I wrote my own version of it about a year ago and I had to go back and re-read it.  It's fascinating how different my thoughts are now from what they were back then.  Yes, blogging is still a good way for me to "focus", but I wonder how much of that has kept me from writing these past few months.   Could I have written more if I wasn't so busy censoring myself?

I started out blogging as a way to get in touch with some people working through Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way.  Once I felt more comfortable sharing my writing, it became a way to let friends and distant family know what was going on in my family's life.  One thing was certain, I wrote quite sporadically.  Not only would I disappear for indeterminate lengths of time, but I would be full of optimism one minute and doom and gloom the next.  My sister once told me she could tell when I was depressed from reading my entries. That brought me here.  

I originally created this new(er) blog in hopes to stay away from any negativity on my part.  I wasn't quite sure WHAT I would be writing about, but I knew I wanted to focus on the positive.  I was even doing alright for a while until the end of November and the entire month of December.  How could I stay positive after that?  And so I stopped writing.  Again.  I mean, who wants to read about depression?  But now I wonder.  Is it possible to avoid writing about it when I DO suffer from depression?  I STILL want to focus on the positive side of my life.  Surely, I can find something to write about that won't bring everyone down.  If nothing else, I could always post a photograph instead.  So here I am now.  Taking yet another class.  Hoping that it will help me find my online voice.  I know I want to write.  I know I love to read creative and inspiring blogs.  I DON'T want to be a downer.  But could I really still find my voice if I omit a part of myself?  How does one decide what to keep in and what to leave out?  What would you do? 

I guess it's a good thing I've signed up for this class. =)

Getting back in

IMG_7668, a photo by NurseNinja on Flickr.

As I've mentioned a couple of posts back, I've been a bit stuck.  Lora had a wonderful suggestion of maybe trying NaBloPoMo, but I think I'll take it a little slower.  As tough as I can get with myself, I think that a daily entry may be too much for me to handle at this time.  I would like to attempt it again at some point, though.  Perhaps by this summer?  We'll see.  For now, I've gone a different route.  Another class to try.  

Shimelle is starting  a new class on Monday, and I've decided to join in.  I really enjoyed the previous classes as can be seen by some of my initial posts, so I figured, why not?  It's a good way to get back into blogging, and there isn't the kind of "pressure" I put on myself with NaBloPoMo.  As much as I've fallen behind on some of Shimelle's classes, I love the fact that I can go back to the lessons any time I want to.  In fact, I probably will be revisiting those prompts this upcoming year.  So, here's hoping that Beyond Blogging for Scrapbookers will get the writing juices flowing again.  If nothing else, I suppose I could just post a few more random photos. =)  

I haven't been this excited about posting in a while.  I'm looking forward to it.   

"A weed is but an unloved flower." --Ella Wheeler Wilcox

"A weed is but an unloved flower." --Ella Wheeler Wilcox, a photo by NurseNinja on Flickr.

Stuck

Stuck, a photo by NurseNinja on Flickr.

I've been wanting/itching to get my blogging restarted, but I can't seem to find the words lately. I've got all kinds of topics and ideas, but I just can't seem to get unstuck. I'm hoping that in a month, I'll be posting more regularly.

At the Iao Valley

At the Iao Needle, a photo by NurseNinja on Flickr.