A Post About Nothing

I've mentioned it before, but I'm just having such a difficult time finding anything I consider worthwhile to talk about on this blog.  I mean, books and photos are great and all, but should they be everything that a website consists of?  Probably not.  And the ever decreasing number of views, followers, and comments on this tiny page are reinforcing that thought...but how to make a change?

This blog is not my life.  If anything comes up, it automatically gets thrown to the side until I have more free time.  Between traveling, homecomings, photo sessions, and the daily routine, that means that I have not been the most consistent or most enthusiastic writer in the world.  But things are starting to settle down; the husband returned to work this week, which means no more major traveling for quite a while.  No more guests coming to visit.  No more chaos.  And yet – my mind is still blank when it comes to topics to share.  So.  I need your help.

Blog posts that are sure to stay:  Bookish Sundays, Friday's Letters, and Weekend in Pictures.

Gots to go: Let's Talk and The Truth

Possibilities: Participating in a link up mid week, guest posts from sponsors, more in depth "get to know the blogger" posts.

Where do you come in?  Well, I'd like to know what you are interested in.  What do you expect to read from a military wife stationed in Germany?  What would you like to know about me?  About the dogs? About my hobbies?  About anything?

This may seem a tad ridiculous, but I'm grasping at straws.  I love this blog, and love how much it's changed and grown over the past few months, and want to keep it up.  So by asking you, and by making a few promises, I think I can stay motivated instead of discouraged by current lack of response. You can laugh...it's okay.  I know how silly this all sounds.  But in return for your help, I do have a few goals/promises I would like to make:

1. Be a better page to sponsor.  If you swap buttons with moi, you'll get shout outs, links to my favorite posts you've made, the opportunity to guest post, etc.  This starts NOW.
2.  Have the most gigantic humongous over the top give away when I reach 200 followers.
3.  After reaching 200 followers, hosting a scavenger hunt link-up with all of you!  This thought has been in the works for quite a while, but the more who participate, the more fun it will be.  And there will be prizes!
4.  Be a better follower to other blogs.  I'm horrible at leaving comments, even if I thoroughly enjoyed a post.  <–Changing that.
5.  Be more receptive to you all!

So, if you're willing to guest post or willing to have me guest post [or exchange guest posts?], have any ideas about topics unique to my life style, have questions, critiques, etc. start emailing/leaving comments!

Today...

I am taking part in a give away over on Written by a Ginger!  If you'd like to have the chance to win some pretty awesome prizes, go check it out and sign up!  You have until Sunday to participate :)

Myself and my best friend starting our European road trip!  Can't wait to share the millions of photos with all of you :)

Guest Post from J

J has to write one of my favorite blogs to read.  She's open, honest, hilarious, and extremely supportive of her blogger friends.  Not to mention she is a hoot on Twitter.  And if I think she's awesome, it's the truth.  So you should think she's awesome, too.

Hey, y'all! I'm J, and I blog over at An UnstyledLife. I'm so excited to be a sponsor of English's blog!

Last week when I introduced English on my blog,
she did a quick little rundown about herself and her blog, and I loved it so
much, I figured I'd do the same! Here is my Top Ten Things About J list.

1) I married my husband, B, when I was 20 years
young. Yup, 20. We've been married for nearly 6 years now, and I've never
regretted marrying him so young. Sometimes you just know, ya know?

2) A little over two years ago, we welcomed our
sweet baby girl, M, into our lives. She has since grown into a *very* independent
toddler, with the attitude of a 15 year old, but she makes up for it in cuddles
and cuteness.

3) We live in a teeny town with a population
somewhere around 2,000, where everyone knows everyone else. And their business.

4) I work part time as a bail bondsman, and I
also own an event planning company.

5) We have a mini farm here at our house. We have
a hen and rooster, two ducks, a goose, two cats, two dogs, and a handful of
fish. We also have a horse, but she is boarded out a farm because we don't have
room for her here at our house.

6) I live in Texas, and believe 100% that it's
the greatest state ever. You'd have to pay me a great deal of money to move
away.

7) Even though I live in Texas, I'm a diehard
Alabama fan. Roll Tide, baby, Roll Tide.

8) I'm extremely proud of being from the South.
Our tea is sweet, our accents are funny, and everything is a bit slower paced.
It's more than a place, it's a way of life. Things are different down here, and
I wouldn't have it any other way.

9) I am completely obsessed with anything social
media. Twitter, facebook, pinterest, instagram, tumblr. If it's social media
related, I'm all over it.

10) I'm a bit of a perfectionist. OK, maybe more
than a bit. I like things perfect, and my OCD dedencies run crazy sometime, which
means I spend a lot of time making lists and obsessing over tiny details. It
drives my husband crazy.

So, there ya have it, ten very random facts about
me. My blog is pretty much a modge podge of completely random things. I blog
about my life, things that I love (read: pretty, shiny, sparkly things), and
anything that strikes my fancy. So come by, grab a glass of sweet tea, and stay
awhile. I'll be happy to have you!

Guest Post from Patricia

Sometimes we need a reality check.  Life isn't perfect, but that fact can be difficult to face.  In a world full of "perfect moms" & "DIYers", Patricia is honest and realistic.  Her blog is full of well written stories, colorful anecdotes, and a truthful persona that can only be hers.  If you haven't visited her blog yet, you definitely should.  It's by far one of my favorites; no fake or conformist personality for her.  It helps that she's hilarious and sarcastic!  As a side note, Patricia recently had to shut down her blog/twitter/social media sites for personal reasons, and start new ones.  Don't give up if you can't reach her new blog quite yet; she'll have it up and running soon.

Oh man.  Writing for English's blog.  How awesome is that?  I love English, her awesome mashup lack-of accent, her freckles, and her photography.  Seriously, hers is one of the blogs in the neverending sea of blogs that I consider myself lucky to have found.  (So thank you for this opportunity madam!!!) Now I will stop being creepy and introduce myself.  

My name is Patricia.  I write over at Little Red Writing Hood.

 

This is me, and Stockholm's magnificent City Hall (or Stadshuset) behind me.  

This is me, defaming a wall that's older than America (while wearing Elvis earrings.)

I go by "Alex" in my meatspace life. 

I know, classy. 

Now that I've made a positive and lasting impression on you, I figure it's time to talk about myself for a bit--particularly how I got into writing.  My story is a strange one, but I'll try to make it entertaining.  That is kind of the job of storytellers.

My writing started in elementary school; everyone thought I was an amazing writer, from classmates to teachers.  No one denied my talent.  One teacher dropped the not so subtle hint "S.E. Hinton was only sixteen when she wrote the Outsiders...." scrawled across my perfect grade.  (Little did she know I hate S.E. Hinton.)  For all intents and purposes, I was a hit.

I was not, however, a hit at home.  My dad hated everything.  He hated creativity especially.  Most of the time he hated me.  This only progressed the older I got.  He had a special deep-seated hatred for writing.  I don't know why.  After my first C grade, he burned every book I owned, along with all my Christmas presents, and warned me to stop writing.

I didn't listen.  At nine years old, I had a great story in mind. It was science-fiction.  I told no one about this story.  I wrote it in secret, in a series of blue legal pads.  It was brilliant, if I do say so myself.  I dreamed of the day I would unveil it at school and my career would skyrocket off into the firework display set off just for me.

One random day, Dad found the story, read it.  It was possibly 50 or 60 notebook pages long by this point.  He would read a page, tear the page out, tear it into shreds, and throw it on the floor.  Being a smartass, I pretended like this didn't bother me.  I insulted him while he read it.  I insisted that he must have liked my writing otherwise he wouldn't be reading it.  I hid the heartbreak.  I watched my creation be destroyed.  And the worst part is that after he was finished, he got up and walked away, leaving me to sweep up the tiny little blue papers and throw them away.  His only words during the entire fiasco were "It's shit."

I didn't write anything after that, unless school explicitly called for it.  And those stories were loved too.

But I was too scared to write.  I never wrote anything for myself, on my own after that.  I stayed too ashamed and disgusted at myself and the world to even try.  My yearbooks are filled with comments from classmates encouraging me to keep writing.  You'll be famous, they said.  I ignored it for years.  I kind of drifted pointlessly around, became an art teacher for awhile, then drifted pointlessly around some more.

Then one day, I started writing again.  

Just that simple.  

I have tons of short stories.  I have a novel in progress (and yes, it's science-fiction.)  I wrote an embarrassingly long, 200 chapter series placed in the Fallout universe.  I blog nearly every day. Some days I wake up and feel like the best writer in the world.  Some days I wake up and think that nothing I ever make deserves to be read by anyone ever.

But the important thing is to do what you love.  I love writing.  I simply could not live without it.  My Dad practically ripped open my ribcage and tore out my heart and stomped on it.  I had done nothing wrong except try to be creative, and use what I consider to be my one and only talent on this earth.  I was a kid.  There's no forgetting that.  I'm reminded of it every day.  Some days it's my driving force.  Some days it prevents me from writing more than a few words.  But the point is, I write.

I also Photoshop myself into pictures with Mr. Spock and I also ruin photos with handsome Peruvian friends.....

What I'm trying to tell you is very redundant, but yet insanely important, so I don't feel bad repeating it.



Don't ever let anyone tell you what to do or what not to do.  Don't let anyone make you feel inferior.



I have spent almost fourteen years repairing the damage inflicted on me by a stupid bully.  I'm not saying you'll never feel hurt and I'm not saying you'll never feel like whatever you're doing is kind of crappy, because you'll have those days.  Use those days to push you to do better.  Remember that you are special and you do have something to offer the world.  Whether the world is thousands of people as an audience, or a few close loved ones, they are your world and they matter, and you matter.  And so do your talents and passions.  They matter.  Think about that.  Really think about it.



My life is still chaotic, as are all people's.  Writing wasn't the answer to my problems, but once I accepted that I must do the thing I was meant to do, other things started falling into place--like EMT/Firefighting school, for example.  I would have been going down a long road of misery had I not listened to my heart and the little voice that said, start on that novel.  When I presented friends, very sheepishly, with the idea I should write, they already knew.  Duh.  They knew I was good at it, they knew I would succeed.  They knew it before I did, because they believed in me when I had no belief in myself.



Find what you truly love, no matter how silly it sounds, and do it.  And keep doing it.  And do it even more. 

Guest Post from Lissa

Today, Lissa from through the looking glass and I have decided to swap blogs!  She's guesting here, and I'll be over on her amazing site.  So, check out her awesome post here, then feel free to visit her blog to say hello, and let her know how fantastic she is :)

hello, be freckled readers!

my name's lissa & i'm visiting from over here.

truth be told, i met english just last week via a link up.

she is just so kind & sweet... who wouldn't like her blog?

her photographs are amazing & she's such a talented lady.

we moved to the beach last fall for my graduate program 

& ever since the crazy idea of moving down south came up, 

i've been daydreaming of summers by the beach and now, here we are!

the photo above was taken our first day here. (we clearly didn't waste any time!)

growing up, my brother & i would make lists with 10 things we wanted to do every summer.

now that i'm married, jay & i have been making lists, too. last summer we got everything done!

here's my summer to-do list:

1. go to the beach once a week.

2. use our date night budget for ice-cream 

or little local places on the boardwalk.

3. attend at least 3 free concerts.

4.  go hiking with friends.

5. have a sunset picnic at least once on the beach.

6. find a local drive in & go.

7.  visit the zoo.

8. go thrifting in a nearby city.

9. reserved for something special. 

10. reserved for something special.  

as you can tell, i'm pretty serious about my list so i'm 

saving the last 2 for something special when they come to me.

come visit me here & let me know what's on your list this summer!

A Guest Post from Sarah

Sarah is participating in the Swap Buddies idea that I promote.  I am so grateful that she was willing to do a quick introductory post so all of you are able to see just how awesome she is!  Without further ado...

Hey there – my name is Sarah and I blog over at A Cat-Like Curiosity.  I am excited to be button swapping and guest posting with English at Be Freckled – I can’t wait to see her guest post for me!!

She has asked me to introduce myself to you guys a little – to give you a flavour of who I am and what I blog about, so here goes. 

I am a keen artist and enjoy creating things. I like to try my hand at DIY posts on my blog and recently won a Craft Challenge over on CraftyMinx. My winning entry was this one – DIY Sparkle Shoes.

I have also been taking part in this month’s Sketchbook Challenge. The theme is Open – check out my possible entries here.

A regular feature on my blog is my Monday Mantras Series, which I also made into an EBook and Pocket Cards for my Etsy Store. I also have a regular round up of all things Etsy every Friday – showcasing other talented people’s wonderful products. Some majorly amazing things to buy there.

I blog about lots of things really – I am currently trying to lose more weight and to get fit and I blog about my adventures with training schedules, P90X and Zumba here. I also blog about money, inspirational courses and programmes run by other amazing people on the web; and about the Teachings of The Secret. In fact, that was how I began my blogging adventure in the first place – writing about The Secret.

I guess the main focus of my blog no matter what I am blogging about is living a better life. Achieving more, enjoying more, seeing more and being happy. That is what I am really all about. I work in education full time and fit my blogging, Etsy store and writing in around that.  I would love to be able to earn my main living from the creative things I do and I guess that really is my long term goal – to be able to leave behind the idea of a day job and make my passions into my day job.

I have quite a busy and active life as a result of all of these different roles I am juggling but it is a happy one. I like the feeling of fulfilment I get from doing all of these different things. 

I am keen to explore new ways to help me be my best and achieve the things I want to achieve. I started off my blogging journey and indeed my self improvement journey reading The Secret and trying to apply that mindset to my life. I’d say that this thirst to do more and achieve more has been a by-product of getting involved with these theories and of engaging with lots of projects over the past 4 years. Before that I was very much stuck in a rut and felt that nothing could be changed. Nothing would change. It feels much better to now know that I can change whatever I want. All I have to do is to want it, visualise it, work towards it and it will be mine. (Cue evil genius laugh here). 

So – what are my main goals at the moment? Here they are in a nutshell:

• Keep training and get to my goal weight.
• Continue to work on and make a success of my blog and Etsy store.
• Make a success of my Debt-Free ASAP plan.
• Complete my novel “Snapshots of  Sophie” and submit it to agents.
• Crochet blankets for my house.
• Learn to produce better digital art work on my new tablet.

I feel as though I am on track to achieve these goals. The top four are my core goals I think. The others are more projects/hobbies to keep my creative juices flowing!

When I do give myself some down time I enjoy cuddling with MHI (My Handsome Irishman), watching Game of Thrones or any kind of CSI style show. I also enjoy crocheting and am currently making a gigantic throw for our sofa.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this little peek into my blog and my world. Feel free to head on over and say hello.

Many Thanks to English for letting me introduce myself to you guys.

xo

Happy Valentine's Day!

Timmy and I are celebrating our fourth Valentine's Day together in Garmisch, Germany.

But since we've only been married for 1.5 years, have no kids, and still have no problem coming up with ways to celebrate or keep the romance alive, I thought I would turn to one of my favorite blog's author for tips to help those who could use some tips [and I wanted something put aside for my future self to read].

Hello Be Freckled readers!  I'm Dawn, and I blog over on Hello Dearie.  I'm so glad to be here today to talk about how my husband and I keep our romance alive.

Michael and I have been married almost ten years...wow, that's so weird to even think about!  We were pretty young and still in school when we decided to get married so we definitely didn't always have money to have fancy dinners or gifts for holidays.  Even though we do not have everything figured out, I would dare to say that we've gotten some things under our belt over the past 10 years :) Since I love lists, I decided I would come up with my top five ways to keep the romance alive....even after children!

1.  Seize the moment.  If you're like me, you want everything to be perfectly planned for a date night to happen or even to spend alone time together.  I've learned that some of our best times to be together are lying on the couch after Anne's in bed just talking and catching up on life.  Make a cup of coffee and use this time to "be" with your spouse.

2.  Don't be afraid to ask for help.  I'm one of those mothers that hates to ask anyone to keep my child.  I always feel like I'm imposing.  I have found that this is not always a great thing.  Even though those couch nights are great, I think it's important to have a planned date night every now and then.

3. Always have a kind word. Being a wife is hard work.  When you have children that jobs seems to double.  As women we tend to always have a sharp word when our husbands aren't "helping" or doing the things we think are important.  I have found that I get a much better response from my husband when I use kind words rather than sarcasm or harsh words.

4. Listen. This is a gift that keeps on giving.  Think of the people you love most or make have made the best first impression on you.  It's probably because they looked into your eyes and listened to whatever you were saying.  Your spouse is no different.  If you're really listening to them, they'll be more likely to listen to you! 

5. Don't neglect intimacy.  You get my point!  Be intentional with your alone time ;)

I can honestly say that our love has only gotten sweeter with time.  I am so thankful for him and how he leads our family.  

I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes from Shall We Dance when Susan Sarandon is talking about why marriage is important:

”We need a witness to our lives.  There's a billion people on the planet, what does any one life really mean? But in a marriage, you're promising to care about everything.  The good things, the bad things, the terrible things, the mundane things, all of it, all of the time, every day.  You're saying 'Your life will not go unnoticed because I will notice it.  Your life will not go unwitnessed because I will be your witness'."

I'm a...

...guest on hello dearie!  

Remember these cute little hand warmers I talked about earlier?  Click the link above for the tutorial :)