A lil Photo Shoot

I'm excited to be sharing this post today because it is something I have been sitting on for awhile.  A couple months ago I decided to take the jump and explore developing my blog more.  Since then, I've been taking a blog course called Blog Love (which I talked more about here), I finally landed on re-naming my blog loveMin, I've thought a lot about what I want my blog to be, what I don't want it to be, and in the near future I'll be working on giving it a face-lift. 

With this in mind, I decided that it might be fun to have a few photos of myself to use for my blog.  One thing that you should know about me is that once I get an idea in my head, it's hard to put it on the back burner.  If at all possible, I love to put a plan into action ASAP.  It was seriously my lucky day when I texted my friend (who happens to take lovely photos) asking her if she'd like to help me with a random little project, and she said "Sure! I can be free in an hour!"  It was fantastic! 

In less than an hour and a half I went from brainstorming this idea to cleaning myself up, throwing on a bright red lip, a photo-ready outfit, and running out the door in my favorite shoes to begin a little photo shoot fun.  I'd spotted a lovely cream city break wall with some bright red hearts right on the corner of a street in my town that seemed like a perfect location.  I mustered up all the inner confidence that I could and posed on the street corner as cars whizzed by- in hopes of capturing just a few lovely, artsy pics.  

After snapping a few pics on the wall of hearts, and staying as warm as possible (don't be tricked by the sleeveless dress, it was freezing outside), we decided to trek to one of my favorite local spots- The Ruby Tap.  On a normal visit, we grab a glass and make several trips to the self-service wine machines and maybe even some cheese to go along with it.  But this time, we grabbed a glass of wine and snapped a few more photos.  It has such a cozy, yet swanky/chic environment that it was a perfect spot to capture a few more shots.  [One of my favorites at Ruby Tap, is the image below on the left.]  

A few hours later we decided to wrap it up and head on home.  It was a blast and a great first experience of capturing some cool photos for the blog.  This is one area that I am hoping to improve on in the future- I'm even working my way towards getting my very own DSLR camera!!  But for now, I am so so thankful for my sweet friend Melissa who was willing to take these photos for me.  She was great! (Be sure to swing on by her blog The Hungry Milwaukeeian where she takes lovely pics of her culinary adventures in Milwaukee.)

I'm really happy with how these turned out, and excited to finally share some of them with you.  I look forward to incorporating these images and capturing more as I continue working on developing my blog space.  I have a lot of ideas in mind and a lot, a lot to learn.  Thanks for sticking with me as I continue to share both my joys and my struggles; I can't wait to see what God has in store for this adventure.  

xo

[Images by Melissa Yates]

Worth Celebrating

Today my surroundings aren't quite the usual living room atmosphere or the hustle and bustle of the neighborhood coffee shop that so often sets the tone as I post.  I decided to switch things up a bit today.

I'm currently cozied up in the corner of a window seat in the swanky, 3rd floor secret sweet spot that I love to frequent, otherwise known as Cuvee, a lovely champagne bar.  Blame it on the artsy culture of the Third Ward, or my view of colorful buildings and the lot across the street where we took some of our wedding photos... or perhaps it's the fact that I'm sipping on a champagne cocktail called Tickle Pink, but I am finding myself in a particularly good mood.

Soaking up this moment and allowing myself to get lost in the delightfully pink bubbles as they float to the top of my flute that is so delicately rimmed with pink sugar, I feel like it's a moment worthy of celebration. Finding myself in this joyful mood, I'd like to share something with you that has caused me to celebrate in the past week.

Ever since I can remember, I have had a hard time titling things.  Be it a paper in high school, an article for the Ripon College Days (the Ripon newspaper), or my final project for my senior seminar, coming up with a title that was both catchy and fitting was always like pulling teeth for me.  When I first started this adventure, and found myself trying to name my blog, I wasn't sure what to call it.  Let's be honest, I wasn't really sure what blogging was all about or what I wanted it to be.  So instead of putting a lot of thought into it and coming up with something super creative, I named the blog exactly what it was- New to Me.  [Of course I tried to make it a little fancier and wrote it in French; I was a French minor after all ;).]

But now I find myself in a different place.  Things aren't quite so new.  I've gotten acclimated both in my marriage and in this crazy place we refer to as the blog world.  So for the past couple of months I've been feeling like it's time for a change- for a growing up of sorts.  This blog has changed from being just a fun outlet to meaning a lot more to me.  I am still figuring out what exactly that means, but what I do know is that I want this space to be true to me.  I want it to portray who I am, who I want to be, and what I hope for my blog to become someday.

Putting a lot of time, thought, bouncing ideas off sweet friends, and a few nights where I lay awake brainstorming and vetoing most of the crazy ideas that flowed through my mind- I am so excited to tell you that I finally landed on a name!!

Welcome to the unveiling of "loveMin"- a blog about the journey to develop a lifestyle that exudes love, joy, inspiration, and Jesus.  

There are a lot of details I have yet to work out.  I don't know how I want my new name to look, how I want the design to change or any of that. What I do know is that I have a lot of ideas, goals and hopes for my new space.  There's a lot behind why I chose this name and what it really means to me, and how I want it to affect my page from here on out- I plan to share this with you, but I'd like to save it for another day.  I know this is just the beginning- but I can't wait to keep moving forward.  For now, I am so excited to share this "news" with you.

I'm super excited about this, and hope that it can be a new name, a new space that both you and I come to love.

Thanks so much for joining me on this journey- I can't wait to see what's to come.

xoxo

In Love with Life: Blog Love

A couple weeks ago, I shared about how the statement "Be in love with your life. Every minute of it." really challenged me to think about what it means to be in love with life.  It made me think about how I can choose to be joyful - to choose to be glad and turn my back on the darkness that is so much a part of this world.  Since first thinking about this statement, and considering how it affected my life I have decided that this is going to be somewhat of a "New Year's Resolution" for me. I want to challenge myself to "choose to be glad" by being intentional about doing things that I love, doing things that bring joy to my life.  I am really excited about this challenge, because I think it will be a great adventure.  It will give me an opportunity to pursue fun, to be creative, come up with new activities to try out, to basically find more fun to be had.  

My goal is to share with you once each week about how I am pursuing joy, or more fun in my life.  I'd like for it to become a regular feature on my blog.  I think it will be a great way to dwell on the joy in my life, and to share with you in hopes that you, too, might find more joy!  

With that said, I'd like to share with you my first feature of In Love with Life.  This past week I decided to finally take the jump and explore more in developing my blog.  For the past year, this blog has been a fun adventure- just something that I have done here and there whenever I felt like it.  Over the past few months, its been on my heart to put more effort into my blog.  I'm not sure where it's coming from, or where it's going to end up- but it's been something that motivates me, gets me inspired and so I'm going for it!  

My first step in developing my blog, (besides the random google searches on how to make it prettier, mess with the html coding and css, etc) is taking an e-course created by the lovely Elsie at A Beautiful Mess.  What it is, is an online course with 12 sessions where Elsie helps you think through a lot of blog basics.  I'm only two weeks in, but so far we've covered topics such as "What's the point?" and "Finding your Online Voice."  Honestly, I'm LOVING it so far.  It has helped me really think through what I am doing this for and what I want it to be, what I don't want it to be, etc.  [If you want to know more about the course, click on the button on my sidebar- Blog Love Student.]

This is just the beginning of this journey, but I am so excited about it- and so excited to be able to share with you what I'm learning and loving.  My hope is that I might not just develop my blog to be something beautiful, but also that I might learn more about myself, and through the process be an encouragement to you too.  

Have a fabulous week- and go seek some fun!! :)
xoxo