Ideas flying high or landing at my feet.

My whole heart! 

Every single day when I pick the girls up I stare across the car line at them and think "there's my whole heart standing on that sidewalk."  When we had the girls people thought we were crazy.  They were only seventeen months apart which does seem a bit crazy I suppose.  Yet we wouldn't have it any other way,  I know we've already tiptoed into winter, the leaves long gone from the trees but part of my mind is still here.  Back in the yard, rake in hand, reveling in the leaf pile.  

I feel as if I have one foot in autumn and another in this season and the next.  This time of year I enjoy the hustle and bustle, the people to love on and gather with around every turn.  The presents prettily wrapped, the Christmas music piped in here and there, the comfort of home.  Yet I also find myself looking just past this comfort and joy, peeking around the corner to the next season that January ushers in.  

I find myself pondering small questions like "what will this blog look like in the new year?" and bigger questions too, like what does my future look like and what will this new year bring?  

One can only gather thoughts, prayers, ideas, and inspirations, joyfully releasing them, seeing if they'll fly high like the leaves the wind scatters or land simply back at our feet for more time. 

One thing is for certain.  My camera is my time-stopper, my memory-catcher, my heart preserver. 

I've found myself doing the ugly comparison game with my photography lately, wondering why I wasn't chosen for certain shoots.  When really, you all know my photography is my lifeline, the photo shoots a complete honor that act as the icing on the cake.  Not the whole cake though, not even close. I've done some soul-searching in this department lately and that's what I've come to realize.  My passion and stake in the ground for my lens is capturing what is.  Not more, not less, but the rich life that weaves itself in and out of every second of our lives.  Elevating the mundane to more, capturing the rosy in the routine, giving fresh eyes to old sights-these are all my heartbeat. 

I don't know what will end up on the blog in the new year, but I can promise you my photography isn't going anywhere.  I think it matters, helping others see the light around them. 

Other things that matter to me, make me smile, and make my days go from blah to beautiful are books (especially memoirs!), 

music (I see you James Bay!), 

musicals (cannot wait for Mary Poppins Returns),

 cooking, 

dressing happy (hence the reason for my what I wore posts), 

teaching (#saragoesbacktowork), 

photography, 

journaling (both with art and words), 

friends and family (my everything),

 foster care and adoption (hasn't left my heart, not for a second), 

painting (I miss you!), 

the outdoors (dreaming already of camping and hiking), 

decorating (a huge declutter/changing my style a bit coming soon), 

gardening, 

and obviously, blogging. 

I've one of the "old" bloggers, having been around on this space and my previous blog for over 10 years!  With so many interests and loves and blog comments not really being a thing anymore it's sometimes really hard for me to determine what you lovely readers show up here for. 

I don't mean that rudely-I'm so honored you're here and I do check my blog stats every now and then so I do know *you're still here.*  If I were tech-savvy I'd do one of those IG stories with questions asking what you want to see in this space, but I'm not real big on the stories.  My introverted self prefers this old-fashioned method of simply asking on the blog. 

So friends, will you share your thoughts with me?  

What do you like to see on this blog?