Something New.. Something to Think On..

Turning 40 has shed a new light on my life. I've had so many things in the past that have defined who I am and I've held onto for many years because it was who I was. When I had my 40th birthday back in August, I started to re-evaluate my life. Hobbies, likes, dislikes, journey's, goals, dreams...

I made a huge revelation with my card crafting hobby back in September and liquidated all of my stuff. It felt great to set that part of my past free. All my supplies are gone now. In it's place is a brand new D.S.L.R camera so I can work more on my photography hobby. 

That's not all my card crafting hobby gave me.. I also received a new double oven and a new dishwasher to help with my ever growing passion for cooking/baking..

Isn't it beautiful! I've lived in my home over 7 years now and have been battling an oven that wouldn't keep the correct temperature. When I purchased this one, I fell in love. I now have two extra burners on top and a double oven so I can cook different temps at the same time or use both to double and even triple my batches and get more done in a smaller amount of time..

My dishwasher was on the fritz. Some of the buttons didn't even work and the racks were falling apart. This was a dream come true as well to purchase this alongside the oven. It's so quiet and I can even set it up to run in the middle of the night if I want to. I'm officially spoiled!

I was also able to purchase three more items. Two more to help in the kitchen and one to help with my fitness goals. I needed a new food processor since mine was well loved. Now that we are a full blown hunting family and have processed our own meat each deer season, we were in need of a good food saver so we can keep our meat fresh in our freezer.

Now that I've laid this 'defining thing' to bed, I'm able to really see who I am now and not who I was 17 years ago when I picked up the hobby. A lot has changed in the years of my marriage. It's nice to sit down once in awhile and look back on yourself and see if you are still on the correct path for your life.

God has blessed me in the ability to cook/bake and I'm loving that. He's given me the talents to make my own cakes for my family and love doing that too. He has also blessed me with the eye of photography and find passion to continue to pursue these gifts/talents. 

I also have some new loves that have come to light over the past few years. Hunting, fitness, health, and eating right. I have a passion for all of these and look forward to working on building them up in my life.

I'm now coming to blogging. Why am I blogging? What am I getting out of blogging? I've been blogging since 2005. I started blogging to find an outlet from being a stay at home mother, homeschooling two young boys and I was alone. Of course, I had my wonderful husband but the days were long and lonely when he was at work and I was home taking care of two young boys and also worrying a lot over my daughter and my very tasking court custody with my ex husband.. 

Life has surely changed with this situation as well. My daughter will be 20 on Halloween, and my two boys are no longer little.. My oldest son is now 15 and my youngest will be turning 13 in December. When I started blogging for an outlet, my life was different then. It has changed a lot over the years. At one point I was blogging to share my homeschooling experiences but my family dynamic has changed there as well, with one child in college now, the other in public school and homeschooling only one now. Not much to talk about there anymore.

I also loved to review books and share my findings on my blog. I still do that but I've cut back dramatically because my passion to read all the time has changed as well. I find using my time in different ways more satisfying than a book on the couch. I do love to read now but I'm limiting my selections and picking my books more carefully.

So with that, I'm re-evaluating the reasons behind my blog. What I want to get out of it and where do I want to take it. So with that, I'm going to be thinking about the direction I would like to see my blog go. More personal posts, more informational posts, etc..

What are your thoughts on what you'd like to see in my blog? Sometimes I wonder if anyone is really reading my posts. I've had my blog for years and only very few ever leave comments... Am I leaving an impact in the cyber world? Should I continue or let it go? That's the question!!

We will see here soon as I look over my options and see where God wants to take me and my blog..