Why yes, the View is a day early this week, thanks for noticing.
The reason is, I figured I might as well commandeer my own series for my
Four Year Blogiversary!
Which is today. I set up this here blog on April 30, 2010.
There was my husband's health, the kids, we were in escrow on our house. Big changes were coming for us. .....why not set up a blog? I had no clue what was looming in my life, nor in my journey as a blogger.
Setting up my catchy but lamely named "Just Jennifer" was easy. Too easy, one might say. It's definitely been a work in progress.
So where am I at with blogging four years later? I'm glad you asked.
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Four Years a Blogger
I absolutely love, love, LOVE blogging. It has been the best thing I've ever done for myself.
I could stop right there. That's all I really need to say about it.
But I know there are still many people who don't quite get it. So I will elaborate.
“Life limped along at subsonic speeds,” regularly plays on repeat in my head. The days are long but the years are short. I’m waiting for something, yet ache for a pause button.
Well I have known this week's View contributor for quite awhile now. I think our paths crossed doing Monday Listicles....
Katie of Your Girls and Boys is a working mom of 3. Her oldest is just a year younger than my daughter, and is who she was inspired to talk about today.
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Listening to my Middle-Schooler
Jen’s The View From Here series is all about perspective, so when I was thinking about what I wanted to share here today, I thought about my many perspectives in life – the different lenses I view life through every single day, and how my perspective has changed over time. The biggest shift for me in recent years has been my perspective on motherhood. It changes as you’re parenting a baby, then a toddler, a little kid, a big kid, a tween – and though I’m not quite there yet – a teenager.
*This conversation is sponsored by General Mills® via Burst Media. The opinions and text are mine.
Dry, ready-to-eat cereal has been around since 1895. It is a classic, staple food of which at least one box is most likely found in just about every household.
“You don’t have to”, I was told. “This doesn't have to be your struggle.” “No,“ I instantly responded, “apathy, complacency and indifference are unacceptable.
I didn't grow up with religion, per se. I wasn't baptized as a baby or child and we didn't go to church. My parents seemed to believe in God, but not so much organized religion. We celebrated Christmas and Easter like other families, but faith was not a part of our everyday lives.
Yet somehow I had BELIEF. It's like I was born with it. I can't imagine NOT believing in something greater than this, than myself. I've listened to what non-believers have to say, how irrational the idea of a God sounds to them. I often laugh at religious jokes because, yeah, a lot of it does sound absurd. I have a lot of issues with the Bible and how it's interpreted.
But nothing I've heard shakes the feeling I have that there is a higher power, that prayers are heard, even that angels exist. It's simply this innate part of who I am.
Last week I went through a range of emotions after seeing the “American Blogger” trailer that many people were talking about. As I watched it for the first time I thought “how pretty” and also “how very singular”. I immediately wondered why the film was titled “American Blogger” when it simply did not seem to represent the true scope of those of us that blog in this country. I saw very little diversity.
Middle age? Pfft! Only if you plan to live to be 80. I could live longer than that. I've never smoked a day in my life or done hardly any recreational drugs. I drink alcohol, but not excessively. I don't get sick very often, I've started exercising again and have accepted that I shouldn't choose french fries as my side at every meal. I've even managed to curb my sweet tooth.
Never mind that it seems to have just switched to a salt tooth.
Yep, I'll live past 80 for sure!
But that's not really what I'm supposed to be talking about today, now is it?
My husband was just in the hospital for five days. It was a bit of a roller coaster.
He had to have his fistula (dialysis access) reworked back in February. A vascular surgeon placed a graft and made a sort of hybrid access consisting of graft and fistula. Usually these are two different forms of dialysis access.
Although a bit odd (red flag?), it seemed to be working fine until Mark's body decided to get angry with the graft and it got infected (but wait, we didn't know this was the culprit yet). He developed typical symptoms of infection: fever, chills, muscle pain, and was started on IV antibiotics at dialysis.
Over the next several days we made two trips to the ER because the symptoms weren't going away, which one would expect after only about 24 hours on antibiotics. Mark is especially susceptible to infection (usually staph) and has even had pericarditis, an infection surrounding his heart, so we were very nervous and didn't want to take any chances.
When I first stumbled upon the Ultimate Blog Party in the spring of 2012, I was still a bit of a wide-eyed newbie blogger.
I feel that my intro post for 2013 was better than the first. In beginning this post, I noticed that I copied and pasted a few bits from year one to year two....
At first I thought this was tacky and/or lazy of me, but the thing is, those parts are still true for year 3, and I think that's a good thing.
It means I am being consistent and staying true to who I am and what I want to put out there.
What was, and is still, true for me, that I want you to know if this is your first time here:
Although my blogging has gotten bigger and broader, this space was originally my place to get things out, and it still very much is. Quite a lot is about issues regarding my husband's health problems. He is a Type 1 Diabetic on dialysis with a host of complications, including several things wrong with his heart. We have nearly lost him a couple of times. We feel very fortunate that he is still with us, but are now mindful of the possibility of losing him. It's hard and I need to write about it sometimes. And even when I'm not writing about it, it's always there, in the background.
On the other hand, I am also a mom of two, a 13 1/2 year old girl and an 8 year old boy. They are smart and beautiful and crazy. They complete me. I talk about them, what motherhood is like for me, and parenting.
Regardless of the subject, I am as upbeat and positive as I can be, laugh instead of cry most of the time and am full of gratitude for my many blessings.
I like social media very much. I play on Twitter and Facebook the most, but also dabble in Pinterest, Google+ and LinkedIn. I participate in Fat Mum Slim's Photo-a-day challenges and share on Instagram. And I might be starting to get a little more familiar with YouTube.
In my offline world I enjoy TV, movies, music, knitting and crocheting, walking, reading, coffee and wine. I live in Western Washington state.
What's newer that I'd also like you to know:
I changed the name of my blog to Dancing in the Rain last fall, and I am so happy I did. My original name was starting to grate on me. I love quotes, so I looked to some of my favorites for inspiration. "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...It's about learning to dance in the rain" stood out because of how I try to find happiness even in the midst of my struggles, and because I live in a place where it rains a lot. It's a double entendre!
Around the same time last fall, I also started a guest post series called The View From Here: Your Perspective, Your Voice. Every Thursday I publish a post someone else has written that highlights something they have a certain perspective or opinion on; something about where they are in their life. I love these posts! I cordially invite anyone and everyone to submit their info to be a contributor.
If you want even more details about me, my family or this blog, please check out the pages at the top, as well as my labels in the sidebar.
I welcome you to my little corner of the blogosphere and hope you might like to stay awhile!
Thanks so much for popping in to meet me! Do we have anything in common?
This week's View is coming to you all the way from Germany!
Deanna Hermann is an expat blogger and freelance writer. She writes today about something I could relate to after we relocated from California to Washington. It's hard to leave people you love behind, but they don't need to make it harder.
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One Way Streets Are Lonely
If you could change one thing about your life, what would it be? I know my answers to that question evolve as I grow and change. Never would I have thought that one day, the answer to that question would be that I want to become an expatriate. I got my first taste of Germany when I lived here briefly from 2008-2010. During the end of my stay, I met my husband. I had to return to the states and a year later he followed. We went through the immigration process, married and had our first child all pretty quickly. Like, in the first year, quickly. As much as we both thought a life in the states was what we wanted, we longed for the simpler life we could have in Germany. We wanted our son to be near family, but also experience that same lifestyle. In addition, I suffer from a chronic neurological disease and you just can’t beat socialized health care. So, in May 2013, we returned to Germany and started our lives over once again.
A decision that big, doesn’t come without some expected fallout. My family, of course, all live in the states. For my mom, especially, this move takes away her only grandchild. We are now approximately 5,500 miles away with a nine-hour time difference. For the most part, my family has been very understanding and supportive, but it’s difficult; small, yet passive aggressive, jabs happen. And this is where it becomes frustrating. Often, people make it seem like we have no right to complain about how hard it is when we made this choice. “No one forced you to move”, they’ll say. While there is truth to the statement that we chose this life, it’s no different than anyone else making choices for their family. For instance, whether you are a stay-at-home mom or a work-outside-of-the-home mom, it’s hard. You are constantly making sacrifices and while the details of those are different, the reasoning behind them is still the same: you want the best for your family, your children. In Las Vegas, my husband and I have a great network of friends, we have my family, we both have career opportunities, but neither of us can accept raising our son there when we have options. I know kids grow up in Las Vegas, but ours doesn’t have to, so we made a choice. We decided to give up what may be easier for us, what may be better for us, for what we know is better for him. It’s not that we don’t have family or friends here. It’s not that we can’t both have careers here. Germany is lovely or we wouldn’t have wanted to return, but even the most lovely place can’t mend your heart when you miss your family and close friends from your “other home”. So, sometimes it’s hard and we want to complain when we feel homesick. Mostly though, we just want people to reach out instead of it always being a one-way street. We may have been the ones who left, but that doesn’t mean we have to be the only ones to stay in touch. In the end, you have to make choices in your life. The decisions are always yours whether you believe them to be or not. Only you can live life the way you want. We are coming up on our one-year anniversary here and we still believe in our decision, but a little reciprocation would be nice. There’s even this thing called Skype (or Face Time) that makes it easy and free. Try it out sometime, would ya?
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Yeah, my mom had a hard time with our move too. And honestly, now that my children are growing up, I can relate to never wanting them to move too far away from me. My daughter sees commercials for St. Jude's and says she wants to work there when she grows up. I tell her there is a perfectly good children's hospital in Seattle!
On the other hand, Deanna is right, we all have to make choices based on what we think will be best for ourselves and our families. Most of the time, things that are necessary, aren't easy.
On the other, other hand, no one should feel like they're allowed to make you feel bad for the choices you make.
It is the first Wednesday of April, which means it is time for my monthly installment of
Instagram Hearts: March
(Have you caught on that I am posting these the first Wednesday of every month?)
Normally I list them in chronological order, but last month one certain photo stood out
extra special among the others, so I am saving it for last.
3-2-14 For the Photo-a-Day prompt "something borrowed". I borrowed this protective wine bottle bag from my friend to safely transport the bottle of Syrah she sent me on my cruise with. I thought it was kinda funny that this got so many likes.
3-8-14 Actually posted on the 10th, for the Photo-a-Day prompt "in the corner". This was my view standing on the Serenity Deck at the back of the cruise ship.
3-12-14 When your little boy looks up at you sweetly you must take a picture!
3-17-14 We call this a "cilantro citrus shredded pork taco", and it's delicious! It was the result of the idea to throw a pork roast in the crock pot with pineapple. I looked up recipes, pinned one that said to also add rum and orange wedges. When we discovered how easily it was going to shred, we decided TACOS!
3-21-14 For the Photo-a-Day prompt "full". Because this tree was FULL of flowers.
3-27-14 For the Photo-a-Day prompt "I am here". This was me looking to the east over the soccer fields next door to our neighborhood.
And the very special photo, which was chosen as a Photo-a-Day "Fab 4" by Fat Mum Slim for the prompt "cropped" was:
3-19-14 My ginger kitty Julius is famous - I'm so proud!
I don't believe in April Fools' Day. I will not be lying to you, trying to trick or prank you, or otherwise manipulate you today.
Pinky swear.
We'll have none of that here.
Besides, I'm not feeling all jokester-y today considering I've had only 3 1/2 hours sleep due to yet another trip to the ER with my husband last night.
He's OK, but he has an infection that may or may not have to do with two broken wires in his chest from his bypass surgery in September 2010.
So no, no pranks or pointing and laughing happening on this blog today. Instead I want to work on getting you guys -- and myself at this *yawn* point -- excited for the month ahead!
You see, April is an important one around here.
Every April 16, like clockwork, my birthday rolls around. And this year? I'm turning 40, people.
I will graciously accept any and all gifts!
Also, every April 30 is my blogiversary. I am coming up on four years of blogging.
And then....actually first, because it's a little bit earlier than usual this year I think....I will be participating in the Ultimate Blog Party over at 5 Minutes for Mom.
Now, it's possible that none of this will be exciting to anyone but me.
Whatevs.
You read my blog, you must kinda like me, so get with the program, OK?
I'm just saying.
So, how will this impact your life, you ask?
Self-absorbed much?
There will be some sort (I haven't decided yet because I'm currently distracted by a family visit) of #UBP14 post at the end of this week and you will probably see me using that hashtag on social media.
Then there will be an "I'M 40-FREAKING-YEARS-OLD!" post.
If you're super young and can't see 40 yet, or you've already hit that particular milestone and you're thinking "been there, done that, bitch", you're just gonna have to humor me, OK?
The part you will probably like the best, is that I will be having a GIVEAWAY for my blogiversary.
Don't get too excited. It's not an iPad or a DSLR, or some such fancy-shmancy thing.
If I had anything like that in my hot little hands, it would be MINE.
I do have a Dancing in the Rain notebook and pen personally personalized by me!
If you win them, you can conveniently be reminded to not wait for the storm to pass whenever you find yourself doing so.
To review:
UBP14
40th birthday
Blogiversary giveaway
Other stuff thrown in because I'm awesome like that.
Maybe this post is superfluous, but like I said earlier, I'm in the midst of a visit with family (MIL and niece) and just really wanted to blog about something. I mean, I tend to go through withdrawals when it's been more than a couple of days since I last posted.
