I’ve Moved!

Come Join me at BohoHippieMom.com

It’s official!

You can now find me at BohoHippieMom.com where I will continue to blog about life, gardening, good eats, wine, crochet and whatever else the Girls in the Basement demand. I hope you will come visit and join me in my new adventure!

Peace, Love & Butterflies,

Quick Update & Special Announcement

Hi All!

Just wanted to drop in and let you all know that I’m still alive and well in the blogosphere — in fact, I have an exciting announcement! I have my own, new shiny domain, and soon I will be moving my blog — with a shiny new name — over there! I’m not quite ready for visitors, so I won’t be giving you the link just yet, but stay tuned! I can’t wait to share it with you!

Until then –

Peace, Love & Butterflies,

Kim

Day 31 – Self Portrait and Final Thoughts

Self Portrait – Blogging in the Sun.

Oh my gosh, I actually did it! I blogged every day this month! Every. Single. Day.

Those of you who have known me for awhile, know how colossal this is. I stumble on here about once or twice a year and claim that I’m going to start blogging again. I make grandiose goals to post every day. I go full throttle for about two, maybe three days and then … crickets. For months.

Thanks so much to Tiffany for putting this together and to whatever sweet soul pinned to their Pinterest board. Having a roadmap of daily topics made a world of difference. I loved posting and then going off to see what everybody else had posted, and I discovered some great blogs I will be sure to continue to follow.

Some other things I discovered:

1. Despite all the claims I’ve made to the contrary, I DO have time to write. It’s not a lot of time, but if I make an effort and focus, I can always find a pocket of time here and there every day. I woke up every morning thinking about when I’d be able to write, and that seemed to be an important key. 
2. It’s easier with a plan. I’ve never been great at planning — I tend to do most things by the seat of my pants — but if I can manage even just a rough outline of topics and schedule my time a bit better, I have more of a chance of accomplishing things.
3. Community is a huge part of blogging. And truly the best part. I love that there are so many people putting such great, positive content out there in blogosphere, and it’s been awesome getting to know some of those people. My only regret is not having a lot of time to jump around and meet more of you. Some days, it was all I could manage to post. I know now that some of that time I carve out to blog has to go to reading and commenting. YOU ALL ROCK!

A friend of mine recently asked me if I was going to just quit after today. Well, you’re not going to get rid of me that easy. I will definitely be posting more regularly. I’ve been toying with this challenge, which starts tomorrow, so I better decide soon. I guess we’ll have to see how I feel when I get up tomorrow. I’ve commited to different type of writing challenge with my Wiffer friends next month. I plan to keep you all posted about that here. There’s also a lot of physical changes and clean up I want to do on my blog — it’s been years since I first set it up and I think it’s time for a change. Maybe even a name change (for the blog – not me). We’ll just have to wait and see.

Again, thank you all! I will proudly display this on my blog:

Day 30 – My Favorite Ice Cream

Photo Credit: Wikimedia

My favorite ice cream is Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream. But I have a confession to make. Although I do like ice cream, it’s really all about the cookie dough. I love cookie dough ALMOST as much as salmon. It’s just that I can’t come around to justifying it as an actual food. So Cookie Dough ice cream, for me, is just a good excuse to eat cookie dough.

That’s my story, anyway.

Linking up with the 31 Day Blog Challenge at Fabulous Finds by Tiffany.

Come join the fun at FabulousFindsByTiffany.com

Day 29 – My Favorite Season

I love all the seasons, but Fall is by far my favorite.

Autumn Morning Sunshine on our Maple Tree

Here in Colorado, Fall can be fleeting –sometimes an infinitesimal blip between Summer and Winter — but we do have one, despite the popular saying that Colorado only has two seasons — Summer and Winter. Our Falls, however short, are amazing. I love the warm, comforting colors of fall; I love the crisp air and watching the leaves blow. I love the tastes of fall – pumpkin, squash, cranberries and corn. I enjoy our little garden’s harvest and the smell of the kitchen when there’s stew on the stove and cornbread in the oven, or my husband is cooking up his yearly batch of tomato sauce. And of course, my birthday is in the fall.

I went looking for a quote about Fall, and this one from Stephen King took my breath way. The man’s a master of description.

“But then fall comes, kicking summer out on its treacherous ass as it always does one day sometime after the midpoint of September, it stays awhile like an old friend that you have missed. It settles in the way an old friend will settle into your favorite chair and take out his pipe and light it and then fill the afternoon with stories of places he has been and things he has done since last he saw you.” 
― Stephen King, ‘Salem’s Lot

Only two more days to go. How are you all doing? Thank you all for encouraging me so far. I love all your comments, and I want to apologize for not being very good at responding to them or commenting on your blogs this past week. It’s been pretty busy around here, and sometimes it’s been a challenge just to post, but I’ve really enjoyed the challenge and I’ve met a few people that I know I will continue to follow after it’s all over.

Come join the fun at FabulousFindsByTiffany.com

Day 28 – Guilty Pleasures

My Butterfly World

My guilty pleasure is playing games on my iPhone. I know it might be a waste of time, but as John Lennon said “Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.” I think I like it because it makes my brain stop racing around to give it a little break.

Some of the games I play are fairly mindless, such as the current game I’m playing (thanks to Cynthia), Flutter. Flutter is all about collecting and raising butterflies. While you play, you are treated to soothing meditation music and ambient forest sounds. It is a lovely little hiatus from reality.

When I want to work my brain a bit, I love to do a Sudoko puzzle, or play card games such as Spades or Hearts. And of course, there’s Words With Friends. I went through a long Angry Bird stage, but I got burned out. I loved those obnoxious green pigs, though. I’m sure I’ll visit them again soon.

What is your guilty pleasure?

Come join the fun at FabulousFindsByTiffany.com

Day 27 – Online Friends I’ve Never Met in Real Life

I know so many people who say that they won’t have a Facebook friend that they’ve never met in person. I think that’s sad, because I’ve met so many wonderful people online, mostly through my Will Write for Wine group.

I’m supposed to name my top three, but I’m finding that too hard, so I’m naming five. All of them are “Wiffers” — part of the Will Write for Wine group. I’ve known them all for over five years now. Nowadays, we primarily keep in touch on Facebook.

Cynthia – I mentioned her before. She is my number one writing buddy. We’ve talked on the phone a couple of times, and text & email each other often. We worry if we haven’t seen the other on Facebook for awhile. She lives in upstate New York, far away from any good office supply stores, which makes her grumpy sometimes. She’s also a talented quilter and knitter, and sent me a beautiful handmade scarf one Christmas that I still treasure.

Pam – I mentioned her before, too. She lives in Arizona, and is always making me crave a pot of tea. Her blog posts always make me smile. For some reason, every time I hear a Bon Jovi song on the radio, I think of her.

Melina – By far the most adventurous and jet set among the group, Melina went from living in Brooklyn and teaching at a private Jewish school, to following her spirit and moving to Jerusalem. She also has family in Greece. But the best stories from Melina are about her very spoiled, somewhat neurotic cocker spaniel, Hamudi, or “Creature” as she often calls him.

Jen – When I met Jen, she was hoping to be mom of more than just cats, now she is a mom of two adorable little girls. It has been fun watching them grow.

Karen – Karen has two boys, a bit younger than mine, who she calls “Spy” and “Q”. That right there should tell you about the kind of adventurous tales we get to hear from her. I’m jealous of her beautiful old house in Connecticut. She’s not only a writer, but a biologist, so you can always count on her for a different perspective.

 

Only four days left! I think I’m really going to make it! Thanks again to Tiffany for hosting this challenge!

 

Come join the fun at FabulousFindsByTiffany.com

Day 26 – My Favorite Food

This one’s a no brainer. Which is good, because that’s about all I have the energy for tonight.

I’m convinced that I was a Grizzly Bear in a previous life, because if all I had to eat for the rest of my life was salmon and berries, I would be in Heaven.

And I do have a lot of thick brown hair.

Okay, okay. It USED to be brown.

Geez.

Linking up with Tiffany for the 31 Day Blog Challenge.

Come join the fun at FabulousFindsByTiffany.com

photo credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kenbondy/2149526252/

Day 25 – My Location

Aspens in the Fall near Pike’s Peak, Colorado

I live in the state of Colorado, in the Jefferson County section of Littleton, in the Columbine Knolls subdivision.

Bluebird Day in Keystone, Colorado

Winter Sunrise at Starbucks in Littleton, Colorado

Colorado is truly a beautiful state to live in, not only because of the majestic Rocky Mountains (queue John Denver’s “Rocky Mountain High”) and the incredible scenery, but also because of the absolutely gorgeous weather we have — an average of 360 sunny days per year, and that’s no lie. People around here are so spoiled, they start getting clinically depressed if we have more than two cloudy days in a row. I just got back from picking my son up from a friend’s house, and the view of the white snowy mountains after this weekend’s snowfall was breathtaking. The ski towns call this a “Bluebird Day” because it looks just like a bluebird with it’s blue wings and white belly. I call it a “Snow Globe Day” because it reminds me of a snow globe before you shake it to make it snow. And our sunrises and sunsets? Nothing like them.  I was born in the Pacific Northwest, and I talk about moving back there when I retire, but I often wonder if I will really be able to pry myself away from Colorado.

Both my husband and I grew up in Lakewood, Colorado. Our first house was in Morrison. We moved to Littleton in 1995, when my older son was not quite two years old and my younger son had yet to make his entrance into the world. We chose our neighborhood because we fell in love with the huge yards and the mature trees, and later felt blessed to find out that the schools were among the top ranked in state. It was the perfect place to raise our family.

Stair Landing at Columbine High School

I used to get asked about it all the time, but thankfully not so much anymore, and I hesitate to mention it now because I don’t want to seem like I’m dwelling on the past, because I’m not. However, I really want to tell you how proud I am of the Columbine community. I was here on that dark day in 1999, my first indication being the half dozen or more news helicopters hovering above my house as I frosted my younger son’s birthday cake, and since then I have watched this community come together to mourn, heal, and overcome that tragedy. My children went and still go to Columbine, and although it has its problems like any other high school, it is an exceptional school. There have been many books written about the whys and the hows, but if I were to write a book about it, I would write about the heart and strength of this community, and how it came together to rise above such a horrible nightmare. At the groundbreaking for the Columbine Memorial, President Clinton quoted Hemingway; “The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong in the broken places.” That couldn’t be more true for this community, and I feel grateful to be a part of it. I still get a little misty eyed when I hear the kids chant:

“We are … COLUMBINE!”

Day 24 – My Most Embarrassing Moment

I’ve been having a bit of hard time coming up with something to tell you all about besides all the millions of times I’ve said something embarrassing. I’m already embarrassed enough for saying stupid things in the first place, I’m sure as hell not going to repeat them here.

I know there are many times I’ve made a complete fool out of myself — I’m sure my kids could come up with a few (hundred) examples. But right now, the only thing I can think of is when I was waiting tables at Denny’s some 25 years or so ago, and the hideous polyester wrap-around skirt I had to wear came unbuttoned, so I went around with my whole backside showing for God only knows how long until some very nice (and equally embarrassed) older man pointed it out to me. To this day, I remember the underwear I was wearing, which may be the reason I insist on always having on pretty underwear. Hmmm … this is the first time I’ve ever made that connection.

And now I’ve surely embarrassed my kids. Again.

Come join the fun at FabulousFindsByTiffany.com