Archive for: Jones

Ending My Hiatus

April 30, 2013 - Author: admin

I wish I had pictures handy to post, since this is my first attempt to blog since February (um, three months ago) and so much has happened! Unfortunately, as I sit here at work in my office, I am unequipped with images.

I don’t feel guilty for falling off the blogging wagon, though. I feel the opposite: well lived, and reminded that life still happens just as greatly, or even better, off the internet. With that fresh perspective, I return to blogging with admittedly less devotion to the internet at large (and almost no interest in blog stats), but a renewed focus on the idea that the internet can connect people who care about each other, and that I am here to be nothing but my genuine self and share my story.

So, in a nutshell here is what has transpired in my three month absence, which with any luck, I hopefully will get around to posting about soon:

We went on a wonderful vacation to CA in February, and reunited with dear old friends and family
Family pictures with the wonderful Tegyn Friedman!
Upon returning, discovered a surprise pregnancy! (we’d been trying for a year, so it was a fun surprise)
Moved into our new house!
Made and sold over 300 pillows via brickyard buffalo…(during first trimester woes…yikes)
Brigham obtaining a long term sub teaching position, and also interviewing for teaching positions next year
Boston Marathon weekend (and how we entertained my parents when the city shut down)
Home improvement overhaul in the kitchen! (new pantry, new island, new base moulding, new dining bench)
Budgeting, and temporarily closing my Etsy shop

Look forward to updates soon!

Jones

1 Comment - Categories: Jones, Write

8 Things that bother me about the blogging community at large

February 1, 2013 - Author: admin

(click for image source)

Like everyone else and their dog this week, I was bombarded with an influx of #vine profiles in my favorite instagram feeders. So, after grumbling a little bit to myself, and feeling akin to a single cow in a giant herd making a mass exodus for the hills…I, like others, succumbed to peer influences and created an account.

And then I clicked ‘follow’ on all my favorite bloggers (all 2 of them) and then I clicked on who they follow, and clicked ‘follow’ again on most of them…hoping for some fun and interesting inspiration in my daily feed.

What I’ve been finding instead, though, is a creepy mix of children’s bedtime/dinnertime/bathtime rituals (is anything private anymore?)… shaky filming, really poor editing skills, and a lingering feeling that I am sitting in the family room of a stranger watching boring-to-me home videos…wondering why I am even there in the first place. Am I alone on this point? I’m not saying the app doesn’t have potential, once people figure out how to use it properly, or I mean, at least artistically. But that’s the thing, isn’t it?

What is proper use?

I heard on NPR yesterday afternoon, that it historically takes people at least a generation to figure out how to safely operate new technology. I don’t profess to be an expert on any type of technology nor the Internet, nor social media, nor blogging, but I’ll take NPR’s word for it and assume that in the millennial age of the Internet, we’re not quite there yet — particularly when it comes to our general lack of self regulation and propensity to over-share, and place implicit trust in the small percentage of people profiting billions off of those two qualities.

That said, as a blogger (and I reluctantly label myself that), I think it’s time to put my 2 cents in on what I’ve observed over the past year or so, from personal experience and from an observer. I feel specifically inclined to comment on the small niche of internet that I frequent daily: mom blogs, design blogs and pinterest.

And I’m just going to say it. Ladies, things are getting out of hand!

Without further ado, I bring you my list of the 8 things that bother me about the blogging community at large.

[please note, these are not criticisms of particular blogs, just blog trends in general]

1. Blog Conferences & Carbon Copies

2. Perpetual Photo Shoots

3. Over Accessorizing

4. Over Designing

5. Over Advertising

6. Over Sharing

7. Over Branding

8. No Interesting Content

And because I love to elaborate and write, even though most of this list is self explanatory, here is an exhaustive summary on why each of these things are problematic for me.

Blog Conferences & Carbon Copies. Every time I have seen a major blog conference happen (or get promoted online, and see blips of it on instagram), I subsequently see (a) shameless advertising for #bing (hmmm) (b) excessive worry about what people are going to wear to impress other people (c) following the money here – the web developer or search engine hosts an event for exposure and notoriety, top bloggers get paid to speak and get a free trip, and then the wannabes foot the bill – and (d) after the conference ends, bloggers/instagrammers start to morph into one another to stay “on trend.”

I think if your blog is worthwhile, people will find it and enjoy it, and no blog conference will turn you magically from a fledgling blogger into a starlet. Sure, there are great opportunities to party and network – but, I mean, network? You’re a blogger – isn’t that what the internet is for? Unless you’re speaking and getting paid, or want to pay to make new friends, blog conferences are kind of overhyped.

Perpetual Photo Shoots. I’m just going to leave this one unexplained.

Over Accessorizing. I’m all for a good arm party or classy fashion post, but when you start looking like a 4 year old little girl who has hacked into her mom’s closet and dressed herself with everything she can reach, you may be trying a bit too hard. Fashion bloggers, it’s beyond okay to skip a few trends from time to time, or, in some cases, often. Keep it classy and you’ll minimize regrets 10 years from now (when p.s., those pictures will be just one google search away).

Over Designing. I’m the first one to appreciate good design. I love designing! But so many miss the mark on this one, over-designing or worse, badly-designing every single photo shoot, post, linky, advertisement, title, etc. to the point that it is actually no longer enjoyable and overwhelming to look at. The key to EDIT people. Focal points apply to blogs too! Also, when everything is special, is anything special? Something to think about. Juxtaposition does wonders for good design. On a related side note, please cool it on the patterns and colors overload!

Over Advertising. I can’t even tell you how many times I have excitedly clicked on a pinterest link over to a blog tutorial, and almost immediately clicked away because I was immediately inundated with banner adds, pop up adds, sidebar adds, adds designed to hover over exactly what you are trying to read. I mean, you may as well throw trash all over your blog and call it a day, because that’s exactly what I do 2 seconds before I close the browser and move on, and never come back.

Over Sharing. Again, the practice of disciplined editing would add remarkable value. Above all, think of the children.

Over Branding. I know that the internet would have us believe otherwise, but people are not, in fact, brands. People are people. Brands are brands. People have pets, and children, and relationships. Companies have brands. If you feel inclined to brand yourself and everything in your life or on your blog with ‘your mark’ or worse, another company’s mark, please start a company and brand that instead.

No Interesting Content. Okay, this one is totally subjective to readership, admittedly. But am I wrong here that some serious, full time bloggers have almost nothing interesting to say, even though they have a beautifully designed page and decent pictures?

Okay, the rant is officially over. I suppose this is me resisting to the pull of blogging trends, and per my usual protocol, marching to the beat of my own drum with unlikely, unwarranted conviction.

This blog gets over 20,000 hits per month. Originally, it seemed logical to aspire to monetize and make money from advertisements, but it quickly became apparent to me that advertising and sponsorship is not the way to go, even though I invested my own money into buying a domain and server host, and I have spent countless hours building and designing it. It’s not the way to go because turning this blog into a business might dilute the purpose of creating the blog in the first place – and I don’t want to run that risk. At least, not for a very long time.

So, for now, dear readers and friends, you can certainly count on us here at everythingforthelove NOT joining in on the hyper-amazing-festivities happening elsewhere. Hopefully, to your refreshing relief!

-Jones

6 Comments - Categories: Jones, Write

A View from the Top

January 30, 2013 - Author: admin

(click image for source)

In the past 30 days Brigham and I have…

…jumped into purchasing a home (99% there – 2 weeks to go), and therefore experienced every conceivable emotion from joy to relief to frustration and tried patience, to hope and back to joy. {When you get there, basically, it is the emotional equivalent of falling desperately in love, hastily proposing to someone with a huge rock -aka your life savings-…and waiting one month for them to field your competition and get back to you}

…sold out of 140+ pillows IN 4 HOURS thanks to the marketing geniuses at Brickyard Buffalo (making this little etsy shop a viable prospective full time job, and super fun to think about and plan and design for)

…graduated ‘cum laude’ (Brigham) from the Boston Conservatory with TWO distinguished Master’s degrees in Music Performance and Music Education

…been selected for a prestigious award (Brigham) as THE standout “Most Promising Music Educator” from the Boston Conservatory by overwhelming vote from the faculty. The award will be presented at the Massachusetts Music Education Department in March, by the keynote speaker.

…started plans (Brigham & Mike) to make a new (3rd) CD to hopefully be released Summer 2013!

…been requested to play a fireside in CA later this year (Brigham)

…been offered a dream job (Brigham…at least for now) as a long term substitute Strings Teacher for someone going on maternity leave.

…released sheet music online for purchase so that anyone can play Hardey and Welch music (Brigham worked really hard on that one)

…got back in touch (i.e. long and enjoyable phone conversations) with almost all of my best friends! Love them so much!

…accepted new callings to serve as mentors to youth in our ward. We are both honored and excited about this!

…joined an indoor soccer team! And I’m thrilled about it.

…booked a trip to our homeland (so cal) for some much needed sunshine and enjoyment.

Perhaps it is because I live on the 3rd floor, and all it takes have ‘a view’ is to peek out my bedroom window, but obviously it is much, much more meaningful than that. It’s even more than the ocean view from upstairs at our new house. More than any physical view, it is all of our recent blessings lifting me up to see how wonderful it feels to have believed in a path that was difficult at times to believe in, endured the journey tenaciously, and now seen it through to completion. I feel like a champion who is very much at the peak of a mountain top, seeing everything so clearly, after never-ending treacherous switchbacks, and everywhere I look I am literally overwhelmed by the beautiful scenery, while simultaneously experiencing a deep, deep sense of sanctification and appreciation and in particular, vindication, for the journey and struggles and climb and the faith that carried me up to this point of joyful resolution. And as an added bonus, now I understand why my dad climbs Mt Whitney every other year.

Particularly as I reflect on the decade of my 20′s (my days in this era are numbered – thankfully), it’s easy to recall the knotted mess of confusion and heartache that was constantly abounding as I searched tirelessly for a place to plant my roots and flourish, but seemed to be met with constant disappointment. For so long, nothing fit. For so long, something was always off, and preventing me from success and enjoyment and accomplishment. I was basically Edith Crawley. But now, everything clicks, and everything we work hard for actually happens.

I see myself in my current condition – thriving, utterly unscathed and whole and happy to the highest degree that one can feel happiness, able to love and forgive and express compassion and understanding; happy self, happy marriage, happy friendships, happy accomplishments, happy testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and beyond optimistic about the future. And then I ponder “how is it that I have been so blessed?” I have not been particularly fantastic or spiritual or fanatical or diligent – I’ve just consistently followed my heart and put one foot in front of the other, and hoped that one day karma would eventually accumulate to my benefit. To that end, I can say that the Lord has remembered and returned my fondest, forgotten hopes in great detail. It is astonishing what Christ can do with our lives when we faithfully endure. What he wants to do and clearly will do in his own time and his own way, it is utterly breath taking. And I am one grateful girl.

Hebrews 12:2

“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

-Jones

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Settling into 2013

January 4, 2013 - Author: admin

It’s a New Year!

In the past month, I have made some honest assessments with regards to my personal life, my professional life, my creative life, my spiritual life, my family life, my financial life, my school life, and how it all rolls into one to help me measure up to the happiness I hope to live each day with. I have examined everything from how often I blog, to how and why I have drifted from reading my scriptures everyday, to how I treat my husband, family and friends, how much time I waste on facebook and instagram, or the internet at large, to time spent watching TV, to giving service (or not), to exactly how much money I spend and exactly why I save it, or give it away. Like I said, I’ve looked at everything. And in 2012 I have come up short.

Now, I didn’t consciously wake up on mid-December and tell myself: “you need to think about all these things.” But I just sort of recognized that the world was changing, and so was I, and I was not sure how much I consciously had anything to do with it. Strangely, I have felt slightly out of focus, even though I can avidly recognize that I’ve been extremely blessed more so than any other time in my life. That relationship of being foggy midst abundant blessings is what really hit me. Why?

I can think of a few good reasons. All of them have something to do with not putting my whole heart into my everyday activities. And in the new year season, I want to make sure that I have something to do with changing focus. Changing me.

As a result, you may not hear from me as often on this blog. Pardon me while I spend my time in real life. I’ll reserve this space for important and interesting updates, the special things!

So, the focus is changing this year.

So 2013, you will be the year of full purpose of heart.

No Comments - Categories: Insight, Jones, Write

Cyber Monday Sale 50-70% Off!

November 26, 2012 - Author: admin

I am so excited to announce that I officially get to cross #10 off my 30 before 30 list only one week after my 29th birthday! I am going to be featured on the daily deal site Brickyard Buffalo for the entire week, and there is more to come later in the month! For those unfamiliar with this site, Brickyard Buffalo has a specific style and aesthetic and only feature high quality, handmade or unique items.This deal is only available on their website, so please {click the image below} head on over there and check out all their cute things! I feel so honored to be featured among such classy and cute vendors! Thanks! I hope you enjoy it!

UPDATE!!!

And speaking of buffalos…this one is courtesy of Bayba.

-Jones

No Comments - Categories: Art, Jones, Make

music music music

November 21, 2012 - Author: admin

This post is something I’ve been thinking about since I read this NY Times article earlier this week about Taylor Swift, her many insecurities, and her ‘not getting’ the indie rock, hipster, underground culture.

“I have so many indie bands on my iPod. What I don’t really understand is the attitude that if a band is unknown, they’re good, and if they get fans, then you move on to the next band.” – Taylor Swift

On one hand, Taylor has a point – this underground=cool phenomenon makes almost no sense. Especially for someone who gained international super-stardom by writing her own songs, not having a conventional voice and basically paving her own way in the music industry (dropping a major label and going for an unknown one on her debut album, crossing genre’s. etc.). In her world, success=cool and fans=success, and the whole lot = a LOT of money. [I'll premise this by admitting that I am a Taylor Swift fan. I have purchased all of her music at one point or another, and I think she is pretty good at what she does, and also, I wish I owned every single one of her peplum dresses.]

On the other hand, I remember being 20 years old and ‘cool’ and only liking ‘underground’ ‘non-mainstream’ music that my even cooler friends found and exposed me to by going to lots of underground concerts. It was like stumbling on an entire world of cool that I had not even known existed before college. At that age, my identity was molded by my taste in music, and my taste in music essentially became the gauge of coolness by which all other 20 somethings were measured. There were people I didn’t want to date on the sole reason that they didn’t like the same bands as me. There were guys I did date just because they did, and plus they could expose me to more cool indie music.

Bottom line, to answer Tayolr Swift’s quandary, hipsters (and really cool 20 year-olds) move on from bands and fashions that hit the mainstream because nobody wants to be that person who based his/her entire identity on something or someone that EVERYONE has access to. It would defeat the purpose of being a hipster altogether. If who you think you are is completely crafted by your taste in art/fashion/music underground trends, then who are you when everyone else becomes equally invested in the exact same things? You become a cheap copy. And that, Taylor, is why unknown bands are just so darn cool. Nobody can make a cheap copy of something that is hardly known. And so, by constantly pursuing the next unknown non-trend, hipsters can continually prostrate their own superiority and delay recognition of the inevitable fact that none of it really matters.

By the time I was 24, my music savvy friends had moved away and I simply didn’t care enough to invest in knowing who the cool new underground bands were. My taste in music stopped defining me. In fact, the last 2 relationships I was in (my husband, and my ex before him) we have had complete opposite taste in music. Not surprisingly, these relationships have worked out rather well. My relationships only improved as I started being more and more defined by my own character traits and commitments and goals, or, in short, became an authentically unique person.

Enter part 2 of the reason I wrote this post.

Sadly the other side of this coin, sigh, is that if a song isn’t top 40 or on the radio, I don’t even know it exists. I am so desperate to find GOOD music (known or unknown) that isn’t completely played out on the radio, or too weird and bazaar. In my daily scroll through pinterest boards, I had the good fortune today to discover that one of my favorite bloggers natthefatrat follows Lovely + Rust on pinterest, so I decided to take a scroll through her blog. And BAM, there it is: Music Mondays (a list of 10 really good songs selected by people who are really into music). So far, I’ve only listened to one band on the list, Dawes, but I’ve really enjoyed it! Here is the rest of the list I snagged from just one of many Music Monday posts:

1. Mount Moriah // Lament
2. The Horrible Crowes // Behold the Hurricane
3. Dawes // Time Spent in Los Angeles
4. Motopony // Kind of Diamonds
5. Jessica Lea Mayfield // Blue Skies Again
6. Alabama Shakes // I Found You
7. Mumford & Sons // I Will Wait
8. Gaslight Anthem // Here Comes My Man
9. The Head And The Heart // Lost In My Mind
10. Trampled By Turtles // Wait So Long
11. Heartless Bastards // Parted Ways

So friends, for those of you in a similar situation as myself – who have completely lost touch with cool bands, your welcome.

Happy Thanksgiving {and thank you SO much for all the birthday love yesterday on facebook!}

-Jones

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30 before 30

November 12, 2012 - Author: admin

In just a week from now, on November 20, I’ll be celebrating my 29th Birthday. But, for the past year or two with all the stress in my life, I’ve already felt 30…so I guess you could say it FEELS like I’m getting a year extra boost to get everything done that I want to do in my first 30 years! The 365 countdown will officially begin in 7 days, so here goes 30 goals to accomplish in the next year…

But, before I do that, I think I need to pat myself on the back for a few notable things I’ve already knocked off the list that I am super proud of myself for. This blog has certainly helped document a few of my small victories this year, but my decade of being 20-something has been fraught with unexpected obstacles and in many ways I’m excited to wrap it all up with a bang.

DONE (in the first 29)

backpack through europe (alone! thank you very much)
serve a mission in Hawaii
get hitched! And very happily mind you.
start an etsy shop
graduate college
be 100% financially independent (that was a big one for me)
stay close with best friends
re-learn piano (thank you 3+ years of piano church callings)
get to know grandma Jones with weekly visits (so glad I did before she passed away)
go white water rafting with Brigham
help Brigham get 2 masters degrees (yes, they’re mine too! I’m claiming them!)

There was a time when I was starting to come into my own, that I was incredibly gutsy and bold- almost crazy bold. People usually didn’t say the types of things that I would say. I told people (boys, authority figures, girls, whoever) exactly what I thought of them, or things, for better or worse. I loved to feel everything, and let every bit of life filter through every sensation I had, and then analyze ALL of it for hours, days. I felt comfortable venturing out of the country, or to the bathroom (you know how girls are) by myself. I loved analyzing intense social issues and bringing them up in day-to-day conversations, and I found out that other people found that refreshing. I was known to say on a regular basis “who gives a rats butt?” and I really meant it. When people asked me what I wanted to do for a living, I’d reply with 100% confidence “Whatever I want, of course” – and they bought it, and so did I. Whenever someone told me I was beautiful, I couldn’t accept the compliment unless I felt they really knew me, and were talking about my character. I still can’t. I loved people who didn’t love me back (which actually turns out to be a pretty great skill to acquire), almost defiantly, just to prove that ‘charity never faileth’ (even though a few times it did). And even though my life didn’t make a ton of sense to me at the time, or to anyone else, I LOVED being me. I was totally in love with life. I was constantly fascinated by everything. I was so faithful and prayerful and believing and I always just knew that things would work out. My best friends at the time loved me, and I loved them, and it was a big giant love fest of genuine friendship. I absolutely loved feeling authentic and alive and making my own personal touch on the world, and I loved watching each one of them do the same.

However, adult pressures and responsibilities and the need to make things work has watered me down quite a lot in the past 10 years, and I realized that I can’t always live my life not caring what others think, that I don’t really get to always do ‘whatever I want’ – and that sometimes it is nice to turn off feelings and be numb from time to time. But when the going got really tough, I went completely numb…I strove to be normal and easy to understand and I threw myself under the bus to appease people I could not please any other way, which totally didn’t work. It was miserable. And as I chucked all the quirky parts of me to the wayside, so to went my joy and lustre, and all my winning smiles (wink). The glitter that brought fascination and optimism to my life, my perspective, and my choices was hard to come by, and things that made me excited eventually burned out as I lost (so much) confidence in myself. It kind of felt like Fall was happening to my whole life, after the best, most vibrant summer and spring ever.

But if there is one thing I have observed about living in Boston, that I never could never quite grasp in California…it is that the seasons ALWAYS change! (thankfully!) Just when you have had enough of one season, there is another completely different one just around the corner – just waiting to invade your life for better or worse. And if you really miss your favorite season, it is totally legitimate to look forward to it coming back. And speaking of trees, I’ve been feeling around for my roots pretty actively since I got married and moved to Boston and especially since I started this blog, and I’ve come to the realization that the closer I get to the girl I had the courage to be at 19, the happier I am. So, here’s to being me…and blooming where I’m planted…for the next three decades!

30 BEFORE 30

Apply for Grad School!
Take the GRE and get a high score
Buy a house with Brigham and fix it up
Have a baby (but you know…can’t put a deadline on these things)
Have our first christmas at our own home (no traveling!)
Get my family genealogy names to the temple
Go on a carribean vacation with friends (cruise? Puerto Rico? all-inclusive?)
Go to a live concert (rock, classical, whatev)
Visit the best 5 museums in Boston
Get my ‘little boston print shoppe’ items featured on craft daily deal websites at least once.
Go camping in Vermont
Go to NYC to research genealogy (guess what! 90% of my ancestors came through NYC and stayed there! I guess I am an east coaster at heart…it’s in my blood)
Remember birthdays of friends and family and send them cards/gifts this year.
Go Dancing with Brigham (Zumba @ YMCA counts btw)
Go zip-lining through trees
Visit North Carolina to see Brigham’s mission
Take a tour of Mormon Church History on East Coast
Read ALL of the Harry Potter books
Read the Book of Mormon cover to cover (last time I did this was years ago)
Be a best friend and a hot wife to my husband (it’s trickier than you’d think)
Run in a REAL race
Wholeheartedly forgive everyone (or anyone) who has ever hurt me
Send hand-written notes to friends/family when I think about them
Offer some kind of service or volunteer work in the community
Make a trip back to Hawaii to visit my mission (and my brother)
Go to estate sales with Brigham
Design 10-15 more items for the etsy shop (at least)
Eat a Maine Fresh Lobster (have avoided it so far – not a huge fan of seafood)
Visit every state in New England/North East at least once
SMILE at everyone All the time.

-Jones

3 Comments - Categories: Insight, Jones, Live, My City, Write

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Archive for: Jones

Ending My Hiatus

A View from the Top

Hebrews 12:2

Settling into 2013

Cyber Monday Sale 50-70% Off!

music music music

30 before 30