Oooh, look! Labels!

Over there on the right side of the blog, you can now easily search through my blog archives by subject! Pretty cool, huh? :-)

A new look for the blog!

I decided to update the look of my blog and the "About Me" section -- hope you enjoy it! I've also added some new links in the sidebar to some of my favorite blogs.

(For those of you reading this on Facebook, you'll have to click on the "View Original Post" link to get to my actual blog!)

Hopefully some new posts coming soon! Happy 2010, everyone!

How do 7 months go by so quickly?

Back on January 7th I said, "So maybe one of my goals this year should be blogging more often!"

Um...yeah. In hindsight, the word "maybe" in that sentence obviously carried the most weight!

I follow a few other blogs that are just, well, amazing. And these bloggers post often, if not daily, with deep spiritual insights or great recipes and nutritional information, or beautiful photos. And I get a bit intimidated and feel like it would be too much work to even attempt to create an interesting blog, and then I just end up not blogging anything at all! But then I have to ask myself...why do I think my blog needs to compare with the blogs of others? I'm me, and they're them, and we have different lives and different voices. My blog can be whatever I want it to be! That's kind of fun, when you think about it. Such possibility! Such potential! And I guess that means I have the right to take a 7-month hiatus from blogging if I feel like it. So I won't apologize for the break...but I will say that I feel a renewed spark of interest in blogging, and have some ideas for this little corner of the Internet that I call my own. And if you want to check back from time to time, hopefully you will not be disappointed! :-)

I got tagged!

My friend Amy has "tagged" me to participate in a little blogworld fun...I'm supposed to list eight random facts about myself, and then tag eight other bloggers to do the same. Well...since I don't really know that many other bloggers, I'll just leave it up to whoever reads this to decide if they want to list eight random things about themselves on their blog (and leave me a comment if you do, so I can read them)! (Sorry I'm changing the rules...I guess that's my prerogative, seeing as this is my blog)! ;-)

So, eight random things about me:

1) There are two 80's/90's Christian rock bands I really enjoy and still listen to fairly often -- Petra and Whiteheart.

2) I own a book of poetry that was published in 1838 (the oldest of my extensive antique book collection).

3) I wish I were more disciplined as a writer, and that I made more time in my life for creative writing.

4) I sometimes dream in Russian, although not very often.

5) I'm planning to grow my hair out for a few years, to see how long I can get it before it starts bugging me enough to make me want to cut it again.

6) I have been having fun lately experimenting with raw foods (also known as living foods) -- creating unique main dishes, salads, beverages, and desserts with raw fruits, veggies, nuts, and sprouted grains. I even bought a couple of raw cookbooks (although they'd be more appropriately labeled "un-cookbooks"). I've also pretty much given up most animal products (meat, dairy, eggs) -- I guess that makes me a vegan, although I will make exceptions now and then. I'm not going to be too legalistic about it!

7) Despite my healthy eating habits, I have a very hard time getting into an exercise routine, and that is the next main part of my physical life that I want to tackle. It's not good enough to just eat healthy, or to just exercise...it needs to be a good combination of both, so I'm working on this!

8) I will never wear a swimming suit in public, or if there are men other than my husband or brother present. If you want to ask me why, go ahead, but my opinion on this can be strong! ;-)

I wish I were a better blogger!

I read so many different blogs with witty, insightful entries. I'm a writer...I should be able to do the same! I don't work very hard at my writing, though. It's a gift that needs cultivating...too often I let it stagnate. I lack the motivation I need to really write... not just put words on a page to convey information, but use words as tools to create something new, something beautiful.

Maybe that's part of the problem...wanting to write something new, but feeling like anything that I could say has already been said, and probably much better, by others before me. It often feels like, what's the point? What do I have to say, or write, that hasn't already been said or written a million times before?

But if God has given me this gift, as I believe He has, He obviously intends for me to use it -- in a way that glorifies Him. So although I won't promise it will happen overnight, expect to see different kinds of blog entries here in the future. More of a variety...not just pictures and vacation notes (although those things have their place, too).

What better place than a blog to experiment with words?

How many readers do I have?

Sometimes I wonder how many people actually read this blog on a regular basis...the little counter at the bottom of the page indicates that quite a few people have read it...probably half of that number is me coming on to check if anyone has commented on my latest entry! (hee hee)

So just for fun, and because we all know how curious I am (see previous post), if you are a regular reader of "Turning the Pages," could you leave me a comment telling me so? Even those of you who have never left a comment before? (If you really don't want to leave a comment, or don't know how, and you have my personal e-mail address, you could let me know that way too!)