The process of blogging as shown through GIFs I found on Google

It all starts with an idea.

2.3 seconds later.

I'm very efficient at positive self-talk.

After that I sit down to type the aforementioned genius idea and am immediately besieged by writer's block.

I get mad and start pinning random DIY projects until I realize I'm being a pansy, and I'm like:

So then I'm all,

The words start flowing, and I'm like this:

Ten minutes later, I stop to look over what I've written so far, and all I can think is:

I finally finish my post, and I'm like,

Then I hit publish and wait for comments.

After I get a comment:

Unless it's a mean one, in which case I'm like,

But secretly I'm in the corner doing this: 

After I finish my two boxes of thin mints (okay five), I'm like,

And that's pretty much the end of it (no pun intended) until a few days later, when I go back and read my post, you know, just for kicks, and I see a typo.

So then I fix the typo as quickly as possible and that's pretty much definitely the end of it until a few days later, when I go back and read my post. Again, just for kicks. And I start rethinking the genius of everything I wrote. I'm sitting there like,

Blogging. It's a vicious cycle of ups and downs, my friends. Do tread with caution.

* * *

Want more GIFs? Check out: How I Feel About Target in GIF Form

the golden hour.

If you know anything or are trying to learn anything about taking pictures, you've probably heard of a little thing called the golden hour. That magical time right before sundown when the light is golden, and you really can't take a bad picture.

Unfortunately for me, I can never find it.

I can't figure out how to use the light to my advantage and get those golden rays, and it makes me so mad. How can other people do it, and I can't?

Oh, but I can. And I did.

Back in January, by a stroke of good luck, my friend Callie and I chose the only day in a two-month window that was not freezing cold to take her maternity pictures. It was, in fact gorgeous weather, and I think at least half of Oklahoma City was at the Gardens taking pictures. That's where I found The Light.

Callie can attest to the fact that I went crazy and just started shouting, "The light! I found it! DON'T MOVE." For real. It was gorgeous. I finally felt like a halfway decent photographer and not a poser holding an expensive camera. 

Winning.

For those of you photographers (or hobbyists like myself),

here are a few links on the golden hour that I've found helpful:

The Secret to Backlighting Photography (A Video Q&A)
6 Steps to Creating a Haze Effect
How to Make Your Photos Magical

Got any golden hour tips? Do share!

The Best Marriage Advice I Ever Got

When you get married, you get a lot of advice. Some of it will apply to your marriage, some of it won't, but it's all given by well-meaning family and friends who (hopefully) just want to you to be happy in your marriage. I don't usually remember exactly who said what, but in this case, I know for a fact that it was my mother who gave me the best piece of marriage advice I've heard yet. Of course it would be my mother. The woman is brilliant.

This was maybe a year or so after Jordan and I got married, and I was on the phone with my mom. I was frustrated with Jordan for something, and I was having a good heart-to-heart with her, as I often do. Here's what she told me: 

You're on the same team.

You see, when I'm frustrated with Jordan, it's because I feel wronged. I feel like he's not doing things my way or he's disrupting my world in some way. Sometimes I react and strike back, hoping to make him feel pain just like I do. But what my mom was trying to tell me is that I need to stop acting like Jordan is trying to work against me. Yes, maybe he annoyed me, but it wasn't intentional, and I need to realize that Jordan and I are on the same team. We're not out to get each other. We're not trying to sabotage what the other person is doing.

If either one of us is irresponsible with money or if we're mean to each other or if we talk bad about each other to our friends, we both lose. If one of us needs help and the other doesn't do anything about it, our team loses. So being spiteful to Jordan doesn't just hurt him; it hurts me too.

I've heard spouses referred to as soul mates, best friends, and partners, among other things, but it's most helpful for me to think about Jordan as my teammate.

We encourage each other when we've struck out.

We protect each other when someone trash talks them. 

We run out to home plate screaming with joy when the other has hit a home run.

Because we're a team, him and me. As we go through life, we'll have our ups and downs, but no matter what, win or lose, we'll do it together.

Linking up with Kelsea and Kristin for Total Truth Thursday.