Grow Your Blog . . .

. . . it's another par-tay!

{A big shout out to Vicki at 2 Bags Full for once again hosting the Grow Your Blog party!}

Welcome to my little space in the universe.

My name is Kim,

light seeker and finder of things,

of ordinary and beautiful.

I record moments through a box with a hole,

and thoughts through a pen.

I am a mom of two, a girl and a boy. One in college and the other soon to follow. A wife of 23 years this year, photographer, dreamer, mess maker. I love little adventures and exploring even if it's 5 feet from my front door. And, you could say I have a little nature nerd extraordinaire tucked into my soul.

Ever since I can remember I have loved creating in some form or fashion, and the need to express myself has appeared through the years in many forms. For me, creating, whether it be in photographs or jewelry or something else, allows me to express myself about the world around me, in ways that aren't always possible any other way. It's my way of working through life, its ups and downs . . . trying to find the beauty in the process through my lens and on paper, and moving from moment to moment.

And, this is me, looking through my milkweed at caterpillars, monarch babies. No, I don't normally take photos of myself, in fact I avoid it at all cost, but this was for "a quirky selfie" prompt (full blog post here).

I guess it was only fitting since I started raising monarch butterflies 2 years ago this coming March. Yep, my family has graciously they had no choice in the matter let me take over the dining room table, and sometimes parts of the kitchen, with caterpillar tents and related items. So far to date, I've raised and released over 1000 monarch butterflies. 

I started a blog series about my journey with the monarchs, and unfortunately got a little derailed this summer. But I'm working on finishing the rest to be ready for spring. You can find the first of three so far here, and each one directs you to the next post.

And when I'm not knee deep in caterpillar poo, I'm at the beach exploring . . . our 30 minutes away from an hour vacation.

Or watching the sunrise . . . one of my very favorite things to do in the world.

You can also find me every other Tuesday, sharing about life and photography on my collaborative blog called Focusing on Life, with 9 other women. I'm looking forward to connecting with other creatives in sharing this journey thing we call life.

Have a wonderful day, and thank you for stopping in!

Love, Kim

A quirky selfie . . .

"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."

-Oscar Wilde

{Our prompt for photo art Friday is quirky selfie}

Sheesh, it's a full time job just trying to be me, who has time to try and be someone else? Really . . . 

I sometimes struggle just to do me very well. You know, we are always our own worst enemy.

And on those days that I don't get in my own way with that mighty brick wall or allow others to put it up for me, I do feel like I could do anything. Okay, well maybe not anything, but certainly a lot.

I thought about just doing something else for today, because after all I went to bed really late last night

and had nothing planned at all and didn't get my 8 hours of beauty sleep or feel like taking a shower first thing when I woke up or washing the mascara off my face because I was too lazy to do it last night.

So, that's when you grab a hat to cover your bed head, and search for the sunglasses that you never wear anymore to cover the dark circles and smeared mascara, and put on some lipstick.

But what do you take your own picture of you doing? Ahhh, yes, doing something you love...looking at and for caterpillars on your milkweed. {They are officially 1 week old today!} 

Hi, my name is Kim, and I'm a nature nerd . . . and proud of it! ;)

And because some others have said it better than I, I want to share some random quotes I found:

1. "I think everybody is weird. We should all celebrate our individuality and not be embarrassed or ashamed of it." - Johnny Depp  

Yes Johnny I agree, we all have a weird factor, we should accept that in others as well as ourselves.

2. "Be yourself. Be true to that, to your heart. Patience. See what happens if you step back instead of bounding forward." -Nora Roberts

Yep, it's awfully hard to be true to yourself if you are always running faster than yourself. I like patience, and I like slow, and I like quiet.

3. "The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."

-Steve Jobs

No, I won't be changing the world like Steve Jobs, but if I can change the mind of just one person's attitude

towards nature, turn their fear of something into curiosity, and their curiosity into passion that will then

change another's mind . . . then yes, I believe I can change the world.

4. "I want to think again of dangerous and noble things. I want to be light and frolicsome. I want to be improbable and beautiful and afraid of nothing as though I had wings." - Mary Oliver

Yes, I want to be alive like the spirit in a child.

5. "Oh, never mind the fashion. When one has a style of one's own, it is always 20 times better."

- Margaret Olipahant

In other words, dance to the beat of your own drum, because fashion is way overrated.

In a nut shell . . . weird is good, let's celebrate it! Be patient it's where you will find yourself. We are all just crazy enough and that makes us capable of changing the world . . . the question is "will we?" If you've  lost your wings, you've forgotten about the child in you, but when you start dancing to the beat of your own drum you may just find them! And last but not least, looking through rose colored glasses isn't a bad thing, it just depends on what you see on the other side.

May you soar into the weekend! ;)

Love, Kim

sharing with Little Things Thursday, Thursday Favorite Things, Photo Art Friday, Friday Finds,

Create-with-joy, Random Five Friday

In the picture . . . pieces of you

 i have

something

in common

with a puzzle

we both

have a lot

of pieces and

the only way to

see the whole

is

to

put

 the pieces together.

Over at Urban Muser we are exploring self-portraiture (gasp) and the theme this month is pieces of you.

I think it may take a lot of pieces of me before I am remotely comfortable sharing my whole.

And although this may be a small and soft focused piece,  I did let it reveal a little something about me.

pieces, joined together make a whole

Until the next piece,

Kim

XO 

You can join me here at the Urban Muser for more "pieces of you"