a year in review

remember when you took photos and then waited a few days (weeks?) to find out what they looked like? And most of them came out like crap? Yes, me too...

I've been working on making a photo album of the past year, and I've been finding it a very overwhelming task. Maybe because someone in our family (Andrew) takes sooooo many photos. Maybe because it was a Year of Firsts. Maybe because I get sidetracked by admiring just! how! cute! my babies were when they were "babies".

Anyone else make photo albums/scrapbooks online? Any tips or tricks to share?  I need help!

Here is my attempt at a "Year in Review"...

July

August

September

October

November

December

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

blog on blogging

A good friend of mine once said, "Everyone's life would make a great book."  I suppose we are testing her theory out now, all of us bloggers. (I hate that word! Can we start calling ourselves essayists please?)

One of my favorite blogs (essayists) to read is Finding Magnolia.  This family just brought home a tiny, sick little baby from Ethiopia, and I've been anxiously following her story as she comes home and receives medical care.  I've never met this family, or even live in the same time zone, but I'm worried about their baby girl.  Am I crazy? Or is it just the new internet connected world we live in?

I started thinking about the power of stories in our human lives.  How stories have always enthralled us, have always held the power to engage us like nothing else.  Didn't the English riot in the streets when a new Dicken's story was late? Perhaps my addiction to blogs is simply the latest version of the power of storytelling.  Everyone's life makes a great blog. Who doesn't want to know what will happen to a sick little girl from a country far away? And we have the gift of being able to add photos and videos and links to our stories.

I'm incredibly lucky that we created our family during the blog/youtube/internet age. How else would I know how to do Lily's hair? Where else would we find Ahmaric cartoons? Where else can I read stories about families like mine? There aren't that many of us Ethiopian- American families. (Which is why I immediately start stalking those that we do meet in person.)  I'm also incredibly grateful that so many folks have read and enjoyed the stories I've shared here. It is amazing to write a post in my quiet little apartment, and days later see a graph of all the "clicks" it got and read your comments.

Motherhood can be very isolating and frustrating, (as has been written about so often lately)  It always has, which is why women have always found a way to connect with each other to share their stories... over canning, quilting, the playground, the food coops, through letters and phone calls, and now... the internet.

Now I've got to go check my blog roll and see how that baby is doing. Thank you for listening to our stories...

I have no idea who they are copying.