I HAVE MOVED....

C'mon over here and visit...

the big move...

i have been blogging here
for 10 years next month.

10 years.

that kinda sorta blows my mind.

i have
changed in so many ways
during my time here...
i have bought a house, had a home daycare,
changed jobs twice after the daycare...
learned to knit, wrote a lot of poetry,
tried to crochet...
i got my driver's license.
i became a wedding photographer.
i read books, tried recipes,
learned a little html.
i did poetry thursday and SPC...
everyday i tried to get a photo featured on Shutter Sisters
(& occasionally succeeded) :)

i made friends and strong connections
that are with me still.
i vented and worried and laughed
and told stories and shared my gratitude
and self doubt and my small victories.

i came every day and then
for months
i hardly came at all.
but i always knew that it was here for me.

but the last couple of years, i have been wondering
if i should take it a step further, could i take it a step further.
and finally, one friday night,
i made a grand leap, a leap of ginormous proportions
and not only did i start a squarespace website for my photography
but
i also
imported
my blog to that website.

and now, i am going to start blogging from there...
(and i cannot even tell you how terrifying
it was for me to hit that import button,
how my stomach instantly fluttered
what are you doing? what have you done?
do you know what you are doing?)

so...if you are with me still...
pop over to see me at my new home...
my home where i actually use my real name (although
i'll still answer to gkgirl)
arlenegiddings.com

it's still a work in progress but i suspect...i am as well...
so i guess that's ok.
:)
drop by, leave me a note...i'd love it if you did!

tuesday truths...

i started reading a new book,
a book that i couldn't wait to read,
a book that i bought in hardcover
before it hit the bargain bin
(which i almost never do),
a book that i have drooled over and
anticipated and talked up...
and so far...
i am not loving it.
i still have hope...but
i am not loving it yet.
i just don't like the main character.
i don't think that i would like her in real life maybe.
i don't know.

___________________________________________

i am not using my fitbit.
or tracking my eating.
or going to yoga.
or walking much.
and i feel yucky.

___________________________________________

i bought mascara...
super light
super gently
barely noticeable mascara
cause my eyes seem to be incredibly sensitive
but still.
i bought mascara.
AND i'm wearing it!  :)
(oh.  and blush)

snapshot saturday 2015

 itty bitty snippets of my life...

february 8-14

  pb&j 08.02.2015 #myLife2015

 5:06 and I still see sunshine.... #happyhappyhappy 09.02.2015 #myLife2015

 Camera caps & calendar pages #myLife2015 10.02.2015

Are you takin'me out now? Are we goin'out? Can we go in the car? Huh? Huh? Can we? 11.02.2015 #myLife2015

 Headache again...but look who is sharing my blanket....and keeping my feet warm 12.02.2015 #myLife2015 #puglove

 Farmers market strawberries on waffles caramel sauce with my valentine ♡♡♡ i love saturdays 14.02.2015 #myLife2015

 And here's where we are at 6:40....a slight bit of driftage...that's a word, right? #15.02.2015 #Blizzard2015 #pei #windstillraging

friday i'm in love (& a day late)

so much out there to fall in love with...
where to start?!

Ok seriously...how have i never found these before
Elise Gets Crafty::  podcasts
i love them...i started at the beginning of season one
totally loving them!

go omnomnomnomify...you will be so happy you did.

this is always one of my recurring resolutions
GET UP EARLIER
i always try to convince myself
that i would be
so much happier
if i would just
get
up
earlier....
but so far...i haven't listened to myself.
but this was a great article nonetheless!

and...still on topic of resolutions...
a 40 hour work week in 16.7 hours...
i'm in!

february is cinnamon heart month
at the big orange house in the middle of the street!

this.  oh, this.  this made me so insanely happy.  love her.

year of the avid reader::book two {i'm on a roll!}

i have been wanting to read this book
ever since i watched a trailer for it
a couple of years ago

i kept writing the title down
and thinking about it
and considering and waiting
(i hate to pay for hardcovers
when i really know nothing about the author)
but then i got a gift card for christmas
and i knew right away
what i was getting.

and i loved it.
i loved it.
i loved it.
i could not put it down, i blew through it in days.

so beautifully written.
like poetry but in a story that carries you along
and makes you wonder
what is going to happen next.

the characters stick in your head...
even after the story stops.

that's the kind of book i love.

and i had thought that this was grace mccleen's first book,
her only book...but i was wrong...there ARE MORE!
and loooooooook at that website.
oh...i am totally crushing on this author.
seriously...go check her out...
you will not be disappointed!

next up:
Adult Onset by Anne Marie MacDonald
(and as Fall on your Knees is one of my top five absolute
favorite books, i have really really really high hopes for
this one!)

Sunday Best

i had started doing this a long time ago
and then
kind of fell of the wagon
but i am climbing right back on again...
and i tell myself that it's the climb back on that counts 
:)

for anyone that doesn't know me...
besides my day job
i am also a bit of a wedding photographer on the side...
sunday best
was a spot where i thought i might showcase
some of the photos that made me pretty happy
(& hopefully, made the bride & groom pretty happy, too!)

snapshot saturday 2015

itty bitty snippets of my life

Feb 1-7

 

  Dr Phil and diet coke...pushing the editing but seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!  01.02.2015 #myLife2015

 

 I am not even going to say it....but they are all dressed if you are wondering...02.02.2015 #myLife2015

 I don't think we have ever had this much snow outside our front window before....#2015BlizzardTheSequel 03.02.2015

 

 The plow!  We have a lane!  And a filled in driveway again.  04.02.2015

It came!  It came!  Volume one came today! #chatbooks 05.02.2015 #bestsixninetyfiveieverspent ♡♡♡ #myLife2015 use my code PUJPJXYX and get your own!!

 Awwwww...dad....take me too! I can help shovel!  :)
06.02.2015

 It's OK cause it's Saturday.  07.02.2015 #myLife2015

the year of the avid reader: book one

this photo really has nothing to do with this post but right now i am surrounded by snow with more coming tomorrow.  i need this, do you hear?  i need to look at this right now and be reminded that there are other colors besides white.  :)

i love to read.

i don't always have the time
but i always, always
have the intention.

i want to make time to read more...
and i also want to get back to blogging more
so what could be better
than blogging
about reading?!?
what a novel idea!
(see what i did there?  you know...reading...novel...
never mind...it's late & i am getting giddy.)

So.
the first book that i completed in 2015
was The Signature of All Things
by Elizabeth Gilbert.

granted...i started this book in 2014.

but i have to say....i loved it.
surprisingly, i loved it.
it was long and at times i found myself thinking
"but...what is this about?  what's the story?  what's the plot line?"
but you have to keep in mind,
i had just come off a binge of young adult action packed
little mini series like the hunger games.

but this?
this was quiet and reserved, sweeping and serene
eloquent and visual and made you stop and think.
and there were twists that i did not expect.
mainly because...i wasn't expecting twists....
it didn't seem like that kind of a book.

i really did enjoy this.
i might look for the stuff she did before Eat Pray Love...
give it a try.

and that was book one :)
feel free to leave me suggestions of what else to read this year!

snapshot saturday 2015

a quick peek at my 365 for the week of Jan 24-30...

This. I love. Along with my cherry Pepsi lip gloss. But I forgot that at work. 30.01.2015 #myLife2015

 8:54 am....wind is picking up. It looks yucky out there. #Blizzard2015 27.01.2015

Saturday morning breakfast 31.01.2015 #myLife2015

 Disc Delivery!!!! 24.01.2015 #myLife2015

 PB&J 28.01.2015

 Mail makes me happy....especially when it's from a bride & groom that write to say they loved their photos! ♡♡♡ 29.01.2015 #myLife2015

9:36 am Sunday morning... instagram in bed...I don't wanna get up yet someone bring me breakfast...and a diet coke? :) 25.01.2015 #myLife2015

WORD 2015::RISK

 so.
i have chosen my word for 2015.
i think i actually chose it a while ago
but was afraid to commit to it
because it sounded
negative.
Risk.
that's my word.
to me, it's a big word.
a huge word.
a four letter word
full of hazard and danger and possible injury...maybe loss.
but i kept coming back to it.

because i feel i need a change.

because i know i need a change.

a big change.
i need to shake things up...and in order to really, truly, honestly do that...
there is going to be risk involved.

i want to try some new things...
things i have always said i wanted to try (like writing)
and things that i never even knew that i wanted to try (like improv)
i want the freedom to do things with my family...camping, road trips, bbqs
without always always feeling guilty about the editing i am not doing,
the emails that may not get answered the minute they hit the inbox,
the prep & the planning, the client meetings.
i have a full time job already that i love.
this
was supposed to just be on the side but i have let it go to far.

but it feels like a huge risk to me to say no to a wedding.
and i realized as i was journalling about this that a part of me is
afraid to say no, afraid to slow down the momentum, afraid to get lost in the mix...
because this has become a huge part of the definition of who i am.

strangers stop me and say oh! you're the photographer.

i'm not going to lie.
i like that.
7 or 8 years ago i wrote "i want to be known for something"
and in my tiny little corner of the universe, that kind of feels like it happened.
but now i wonder,
is that all i can be known for?
what if the way i am doing it is not making me happy anymore.

so.
i am going to risk saying no to too many weddings.
and i am going to hope that this gains me time & energy to spend
risking in other areas, other areas outside of my comfort zone.

and really,
it's a win/win.  Slowing down on bookings means that I can become
even more committed to the bookings that i do take on...
i can go a level deeper than i have been able to in the past...
and that is exciting as well.

and in no way do i regret having done 20 weddings each
the past two summers...there was not one wedding in there
that i wish i hadn't done (well...maybe the two that didn't pay me...ever.)
but otherwise....i wouldn't change a thing!

January 17th and still no word....

i have been operating
without a word for the year
for 17 days.

i feel a little unmoored.
and liberated...a little...
but more like i am forgetting something,
i am missing something.

i am missing my word.

between trying to finish last season's weddings
and get the discs/prints out
and answer emails and meet with old and new clients
plus my regular job
and normal family stuff,
i feel like all my time is gone before
i even know it.

but i am still doing a photo a day so far...
here's a round up from this week, which i might start
doing on saturdays, just to get me back to the blog.

 If you want to follow (or play) along, you can find me on instagram under gkgirl70....photo of the day is being hashtagged #myLife2015