far from perfect.
my biggest concern with this blog is that somehow our lives comes off as perfect, tied neatly in a bow. it's really important to me that you know i cook terrible meals, have totally uncreative moments, let my house get messy (pipe down peanut gallery ryan & lizzie -- i do!! :), say mean things, have frozen pizza for dinner quite often, have big doubts about the balance in my life, and ryan & i get in fights. my guess is if i blogged about that all the time, this would stop being a moment of joy in your busy lives, and, well, life is tough enough. so, i try to keep a balance between being transparent (see my failure dinner post...) and also knowing this blog can be a bright, loving moment in a sometimes tough world.
as i've taken some time to reflect on this first year of marriage, tulips & flightsuits has become both a wonderful part of and example of our marriage. ryan was the one who looked at me one night and pulled out his credit card and said, let's go, you're going to do this blog. we went to squarespace, opened up a page called tulips & flightsuits and haven't looked back. he was the one who put it on facebook when i doubted anyone could possibly care. he looks at my traffic and your comments and gets excited about things before i do "mary!! you have readers in 61 countries!!" he is my steadfast fan and it means so much. on the flip side of things, i can't help but have proud wife alert moment every now and then.
looking back, i've also documented so many big and small moments in our first year of marriage-- our wedding day, our honeymoon, mid-week date nights to mcdonalds, blueberry picking, a funny late night conversation, and our first big navy move. one of the most encouraging things i've heard from some of you is that you like that with the abundance of great wedding blogs out there, t & f has a little bit of a newlywed blog feel to it. a lot of us newlyweds feel like there are a gazillion resources to plan our wedding day and then things sort of go silent as we're navigating the early days of married life (which can be a BIG adjustment). i by no means have any expertise, but i'm more than happy to muddle through it with you.
thanks for all your encouragement along the way.
photo above of HORRIBLE chocolate chip cookies i made (i didn't measure very carefully ... or at all on some parts) and they managed to be burnt and undercooked all at once.
big ideas Thu, November 18, 2010 at 11:00 AM
Reader Comments (10)
i hate when that happens to my cookies!
your blog is one of the best parts of my day, burnt cookies and all!
Imperfections or not, I've noticed that I keep coming back to blogs where the authors are honest, good natured human beings who chronicle their everyday life. They don't hang back on their passions, they share openly their joys and the little every day moments that are important to THEM, no matter how big or small. It's what I am slowly trying to achieve on my blog and that's why after finding your blog this past summer I've kept returning. Thanks for sharing your life with us readers!
I FAIL every time I attempt to make chocolate chip cookies. I can hardly make the break and bake. :)
I love this post!
<3 Leigh
Hi, I recently started reading your blog after one of my classmates made your pumpkin bread. I am so excited you are from Indiana, I am too. Without going into much detail about my life, I am from Indiana and then moved to NC to go to school and get my Masters. Keep it up!
I LOVE your blog, it's one of my absolute favorites and every post makes my day. Thank you for always sharing!!
Mary, I adore your blog! Maybe it's the fact that my husband and I are newlyweds too. Or, like Alison said above, that you seem honest and genuinely nice. Either way, I have a list of blogs in my reader and yours is always one I click on first. Congratulations on building a successful blog! You're a joy to read.
i love your blog just the way it is.
[and i'm from indiana too, still here!]
I love your honesty, and am so encouraged to read this----we are imperfect beings but what's that saying... "we might not have it all together, but together we have it all!!"
Just a great point to make about the blogging world, but I think we all like to visit lovely blogs like your's for a sense of escapism.
So glad I have just stumbled across your blog! :)