Stepping out

This picture has absolutely nothing to do with this post, but doesn’t she look cute in her new holiday skirt?

Part of blogging, for me, has been about figuring out who exactly I want to be. Who I am now, plus the person I would like to become. Blogging has stretched me to higher levels of creativity and has pushed me into some situations that are uncomfortable for me.
Take this week for example. Jen from Tatertots and Jello invited anyone to come to a cookie exchange. It was on Tuesday, at her house. The actual house of the actual Jen from Tatertots and Jello. Do you see where this is going?
Normally I’m not the kind of person who assumes an open-ended invitation is actually and really for them. I usually read it as “Everyone, (except Amy) is invited!” Who would need me there? Who would expect me to be there? Well, in this case, literally, no one. But, I put on some grown-up blogger shoes and raised my hand, “Yes, count me in!” This, my friends is a huge step for Amy-kind.
I doubted, I worried, I felt all kinds of pressure to produce the most amazing photogenic cookies I could possibly come up with. (who ever worried about how their cookies would look on film? I ask you, WHO?) In the end I took my great-grandmother’s ginger snap cookies, because they are simple and one batch easily covered the 4 dozen cookies we were asked to bring. They aren’t fancy, or show-offy beautiful. But, they were good!
I asked my sister to watch my kiddos, took a deep breath and drove myself right on up there! I am so glad I did. I met Leann and Margo, and Lara. I chatted with Amy (I mean AMY- from the Idea Room- AMY!) met Jen and tons of other AMAZING bloggers! It was really fun. Luckily for me Leann showed up early so I wasn’t the only one there right at the crack of 11. (does anyone else have a compulsive urge to show up on time (or early) to EVERY SINGLE THING???) She is so fun, outgoing and kind and we laughed a lot, a whole lot! I sort of used her as my buffer for the rest of the event. Thank you Leann, for letting me tag along! I really tried to get out of my comfort zone and introduce myself to people, but I’m not all that good at it. Plus, I don’t really like to gush and fawn outwardly. I try to keep all the drool and hero worship to myself!
So, all in all, I’m really grateful for this little blog of mine. It has pushed me and created opportunities for me that I wouldn’t have otherwise. It’s a TON of work. But I love it, and all that it is adding to my life right now.