Saturday, January 5, 2008

This blogging thing..

Last night Jenny and I went to the surprise baby shower for Angie. I couldn't mention it before because it was a surprise and she might have been reading my blog. I want to share that with you later but for now I want to share some of the conversation I had with Jenny on the way there and back in the car.

I have no pictures today...just words. As most of you know I'm full of words!! I think it's due to the fact that I was so shy growing up, afraid to speak...and actually brought up believing that "children are to be seen, not heard". As I got older I came out of that silence and talked to anybody who would listen!! Age is a funny thing, well not funny ha ha, but a strange thing I guess. Strange in that I can look back on my life and see myself at different stages, how I felt then and some of the trying times I've been through, but how it has all made me what I am today. I spent so much of my life, from early childhood on into my adult years, wanting to be somebody I was not or wanting to be like somebody else. I was never happy with ME! This is not going to be one of those whiny posts so you can keep reading! :)

Mine and Jenny's conversation had to do with blogging and how it has been good for me to put my feelings down in writing (type). I spent so many years bottling up my emotions and even got to the point where my heart was getting hardened, ceasing to feel. There were times when my heart felt like it was going to explode but I couldn't shed a tear. That is a scary feeling. I will spare you the 60 years worth of dealing with my emotional roller coaster.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say here is that this is where you, my Bloggy Friends, come in. I had tried at times to keep a personal journal to express my feelings but that's like talking to yourself!! I needed feedback!! I needed to know that somebody understood and would share that understanding with me! When I started this little blog, it was mostly to put down my feelings and share my new-found adventures with my old house, but it has become so much more.

I met Peggy way back before I started my own blog. I felt a kinship with her from the get go. She made me smile when she dressed up the goats for Christmas. She warmed my heart with the way she genuinely cared for other people. I loved that she shared her family fun times too.

Then I found a link on Peggy's sidebar which caught my eye. That's how I met Lib! What a sweet, down-to-earth person she is and always has a kind word for everybody! Lib is a private kind of person who lives in her own little Paradise. Since I've met her we have shared many emails and found that we have so much in common. I still say there is a family connection somewhere! :) I just know we're going to meet face to face sometime soon.

Through Lib's blog I met my dear little weather girl, Karen H.! She starts each day with a weather report that I tease her about. We also fight over who gets more coffee at Lib's house!! LOL I talked to Karen on the phone one night while her hubby was away on a trip. She is as REAL in person as she is on her blog. What you see is what you get with Karen!

Ms. Pea is my Canadian friend who feels like she's right next door. Pea, I was even there lurking when you got your tattoo and you didn't even know. I was shy then about commenting.
She is so friendly to all and so cute too. She reminds me of one of those big-eyed children in the artwork from the 60's.

I don't remember how I got to Brenda's blog but I'm so glad I found her! She wants to be my neighbor in VA and I so want her to be. We share a lot of that same emotional roller coaster! She makes me laugh and cry, sometimes at once. Just last night I cried with her when she announced that her son, Rian in Quatar, had made Senior Airman, and I remembered my pride in my own son in uniform.

The night I found Karen, she had just lost her Daddy and her heart was aching. I didn't even know this girl yet but I cried when I read her sweet words about him, prayed for the Lord to comfort her and rejoiced when she said that he had gone to be with his Savior.

Then there's Grams, who is really Carolyn, but will forever be Grams to me. She is the picture I always get in my mind of the perfect grandmother. Such a sweet, wonderful lady, and I'm always uplifted when I visit her.

There's Rhonda who is busy raising a beautiful little son and has such a childlike faith which we all need. She is a new friend but I know she is a keeper!

Tammy is also a new friend who invited me to view her new, more private blog. I'm just getting to know her but I like what I know already!

I'm just getting to know Sandi from Whistlestop Cafe even though I've been to her sight lurking for a long time too. All that food and especially the fried green tomatoes makes my mouth water!! I was drawn there because one of my favorite books and movies is Fried Green Tomatoes!! Sandi has a great sense of humor too!

I know that down the blogging road I will meet many more wonderful people and I look forward to that but I just wanted to say, "THANK YOU" to each of you who have welcomed me. It is amazing how small the world suddenly feels when you have friends from all over praying with you, praying for you, sharing your heartaches and your burdens. Always there with a kind word to help you along life's way, making you smile or laugh out loud at times. Very important!

Last but certainly not least, THANK YOU, my beautiful daughter for loving me and encouraging my blogging endeavor. I love you!

10 comments:

Betty said...

Hi Hope,

I can relate to the shyness as a child. Up until I got out of school and went to work in public, I was so shy that I wouldn't even eat in front of anyone. My Mom, her sister and I took a bus trip years ago to Birmingham to see their brother. My Aunt teased me because I wouldn't eat on the bus. I sure got hungry on that trip, lol. Working in public got me out of all that, and now they can't shut me up.

I thought you had told me that you only started blogging about the same time as me, which was the first of November, 2007. However, I've read things on your blog that sounds like you were blogging long before me. I can't remember now what I read that made me think that, or maybe I just dreamed it, lol.

Anyway, it seems you have made some close friends through blogging, and I hope to do the same. Some members of my family just do not understand about meeting people online and becoming close to them even though you have never seen them in person. Some of them even fear for my life, telling me I need to be careful. They don't like it at all that I talk to people online because they see it as dangerous. However, I happen to think it is one of the neatest things I have ever experienced.

Betty said...

Hope, I think we must have been writing to each other at the same time tonight.

Did you notice my header? I finally got a picture on it, although it's just there until I can do better. I made a picture of a picture that I have in my home. I finally figured out how to get the date off, too. I have some really neat pictures, but they all have the date on them.

Karen H. said...

Good Evening Hope,
Awwww dang it, you got some tissues? LOL. You gots me all teared up here now. I am so glad I found you and Lib also. Yalls my buddies and my morning coffee drinking buddies. You just need to learn to get up early. LOL. I love the way the 3 of us can joke around with each other. Yall just need to move a little further Southwest. You know, down here in them thar flatlands. LOL. If'n ya do, be sure to bring that thar slop jar. We may have to use it one day. LOL. We have been home only about an hour and I fixed me and the girls some frozen foods that I heated up in the oven. I is pooped out. Uh huh, you heard me say pooped. ROFLMBO. I have been awake since about 3:30a.m. I tried going back to sleep, but couldn't. Well, take care my friend and have a great evening. "THANK YOU" for the Link Love. May God Bless You and Yours.

Lots of Love & Hugs,
Karen H.
Your Favorite Weather Girl. LOL.

Carole Burant said...

Dearest Hope,

You were able to put into words exactly how I feel about my blogging friends...I really don't know what I ever did without all of you before I started blogging! Who would have known that such friendships would become a part of our lives.

A ha! So you were a lurker! hehe It's so funny you should mention my tattoo because just this morning I was copying down birthdays on my new calendar and came across when I had my tattoo done last February:-) Hard to believe it will be a year already!! Feb. 17th is the day I had it done. I'm so thrilled that you were able to overcome your shyness and start commenting on my blog so that I could get to know you...you truly are a precious treasure:-)Thank you for being YOU!! xoxo

FarmHouse Style said...

Hope, you have such a beautiful way with words. I am so grateful to have met you here. I look forward to sharing many more of life's ups and downs with you ~hopefully more ups than downs:)

Happy New Year my friend!

Rhonda

Lib said...

Hi HOpe,
I am realy late today, been out with Bill.
OH Hope thank you for your kind words.
Your Friendship means so much to me.
Most of the girls I know, some I don't.I'll have to visit them .You will Love Tammy,shes a "SOUTHERN SWEETHEART"Just like You:o)
I am so Blessed to have your Friendship:o)Thanks for all your visits ,I enjoy them to the fullest.
You knoe we're gonna have to go see Karen and have us a piece of her cornbread, she tortures me about it. lol
HOpe you have a great night.
Love,Hugs, And Blessins', Lib

Peggy said...

I am so glad you joined the blogging neighborhood! I love visiting here everyday. I am jealous of how nice your home looks in all the photos. Thanks for sharing some of your thoughts and photos with us.

Anonymous said...

I love you and so glad you found me too. Each day I wonder what is going on in my dream state. It was so funny... I was at Ross shopping and chatted with a lady and she ask if my company was hiring... she gave me her name and said easy to remember it is'Virginia" and im like OMG.my fav. state. is that nuts I meeet a lady in town and it causes me to think of you!

Anonymous said...

Well,Sister hope lol my dad never traveled the North did yours ever come to the South? You know im picking with you!We can be sisters in Jesus. but yes I find it CRAZY.
If we come that way to see Rian would your hubby have a problem meeting for lunch or something? We usually come Jan or Feb. I am really thinking of doing it early spring this year if i can stand to wait.I have to go to Lancaster and have not been in Spring. In the cold most things are shut down.But if I get that close to you I would love to meet.
Love you and have a blessed Sunday.

j said...

Hope, I loved this. Isn't it funny the impression that you have of people? Your smile is so bright and your face is so open, it is hard to imagine you as ever having been shy. Your words were so heart felt. I plan on taking more time to go through this post to look up these extraordinary ladies. So glad that I found your site! - Jennifer