My Passion

Like Spud, of Chez Spud fame, I too have many things I love to do... I think about the things I have taken on in the past 16 years of marriage and I am astounded at the many skills I have started, if not perfected.

I know a little about horses and livestock in general, thanks to marrying a horse trainer. I live on a ranch and that comes with lots of little knowledge tid bits, like how to stop an automatic waterer from flooding, where to turn off the power at many different locations, how to approach a horse that has busted out of its stall or pen so that you don't end up chasing it down the road, how to unstop a toilet, how to determine what is a serious illness/injury and what is not, and when to call in the professionals.

I am an extremely frugal and innovative personality, so in light of my innate cheapness I have learned to make my own afghans, do my own website design, apply my own acrylic nails, and shop for a months worth of groceries. There are things that I have done that I have learned, pay someone! Like a good pedicure (reaching down to my toes for that long is very uncomfortable), professional ad design and anything electrical.

I love the new found joy of gardening, even if it is just flowers as yet. I hope to try my hand at a veggie garden, one of these years, but I have to admit I have found a lot of excuses so far to not. I get very excited when I see my flowers poking up in the spring/summer and I am very lucky to have planted things that are continuous in their blooming stages. I did it quite by accident! I have a beautiful staggered garden that is blooming one after the other with nothing just sitting around being lax. I would call that a passion... At least one of them. It has to be, or else I wouldn't weed the darned thing and it would all go feral again.

I am a paper crafter... Love working with the papers and different embellishments. I enjoy in particular making cards to hold written sentiments to send to friends of mine. I cannot explain the amount of exhilaration I get from making a card or plaque or invitation designed specifically for someone. I makes my heart sing! To have someone tell me that they have kept one of my cards because it was simply too wonderful to throw out is heady and encouraging stuff. I think the best is when I got to see one of my cards still on my sister's desk from her birthday. She was amazed that I made the flowers that adorned it. Knowing it sits there and reminds her of how special she is to me... That is incredible! I treasure that.

I think blogging is definitely a passion as well. I have two very different blogs and I enjoy each for the very different things that they are. I love words. To sit and write is just the most amazing thing. It is cathartic, energizing, exciting, and for me, releases an incredible amount of endorphins. I am so complete when I can write. I believe that almost anyone who starts and maintains a blog is a writer and is a person passionate about words. I am no different.

If I had to boil down the one thing I would answer if someone asked "what is your passion," I would have to say communication. All of the things that I love to do, be it blogging, gardening, crocheting, paper craft - I love to share about the stuff I find interesting. I love to see a new technique in paper crafting and learn how to perfect that to bring others joy. I love to read new books to develop my writing style and find new phraseology and different word pairings. I am passionate about learning how to communicate with others whether it takes the form of gifting a card, writing down my life on the ranch, sharing what God is teaching me about myself or sitting on the porch in the evening hours with a cocktail and a friend to share the garden with. I want the people closest to me to understand how much they mean to me and I enjoy immensely the different ways I have learned to communicate that love.

I am a communicator, passionate to find the best way to tell you that I enjoy you, hope you are well and I thrive on bringing a smile to your face. If you matter to me, I will make sure that you know it.