Pretty Nails and Tea

Tuesday, June 18, 2019

Downtown Halifax | Nova Scotia

"Today everything exists to end in a photograph."

- Susan Sontag

More to see around Downtown Halifax

International Busker's Festival | The Wind Farms, Amherst NS | Halifax Public Gardens | Chocolate Lake, Armdale | Citizen Soldier Fountain

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

Thoughts about Blogging

It's been quite a while (a long, long time, actually) since I did anything with this blog. I took sometime to revisit my old posts and I did enjoy reminiscing the stories and experiences that were behind these posts. Sometimes I wonder what my life was a year, or two... five years ago... My writings may not be as candid as if I was just writing for myself, but they have given me insight on my thoughts during those times. Looking back gives me a certain kind of delight that I am left here wishing I wrote some more.

Today, a dark and gloomy day, a day that inspires self-examination and wonder about what life has brought and yet will bring, I sit in my office desk with a mission: clean out my social media presence, delete my old accounts and simplify my blog. I succeeded in deleting my YouTube accounts. I still have some cleaning to do with my other social media (associated with marketing a public blog); today I am starting with going over my blog-drafts and see what treasures I left here unfinished. Some have to go in the trash, but some others, like this one, are worth keeping... and a nice one to write a new post with.

So... I dabbled on blogging quite a while ago; with that, I dabbled on photography, crochet... a lot of nail arts... Of course, a part of me, a huge part of me, wanted to make money out of all these too, so I also set-up an Etsy shop. Five sales. Not bad.

At this moment in my life, I am devoting more time to personal study and Bible reading; which led to discovering a wealth of online Bible reading challenges and fun templates to aid Bible study. As you may already guess, yes!, I made my own templates too and I am again wondering if I could make a blog that would share all these templates that I have been designing for Bible reading and study.

My! Am I sorely out of touch with the movement of Jehovah's Chariot. I browsed through the jw.org site and realized, there is a wealth of worksheets, workbooks.... Bible Study aids... what have you. I don't need a blog... In all these things, the common denominator is the joy of keeping a journal. So right now, the conclusion of this matter is - I'll just keep this blog for personal use, as a treasure chest of my delightful souvenirs to look upon and reminisce when I am older.

That's it for now.

Seal Watching

Puffin Boat Tours

Queen Ann's Bay

Victoria, Nova Scotia

These animals are enormous, lazily basking in the rocks. As if turning their heads snobbishly away from me, they plunge into the water. Most of them would bob their heads in and out of the water. As though they were playing hide and go seek with us. "Take my picture!... Oh no, just kidding!"

I've never seen seals before in their natural home. If only I could touch them. As we rode the boat, I raise my face to the wind and welcomed its cold touch on my skin. It probably helped that we were the spoiled little brats, having a private tour, with the entire boat to ourselves. Okay, we're not brats. The clouds are heavily thick that day, just a few hours before, the rain was so strong, it felt like a hurricane. Many people cancelled their tour leaving the entire boat to only 4 tourist and 2 guides. We moved from one seat to another, trying to get the best view possible. Then there was a little balcony an the end of the boat where I could safely stand, raise my arms in the air and just embrace the winds.

There is a certain pleasure I could not explain every time I look at my husband busily taking photos with his phone. I don't think he realizes how handsome he looks, his face very kind and gentle. "Thank you," I whisper every now and then unable to get over how incredibly blessed I am. Every site, every feeling, sends a thrill in my veins. I get silent moments of reverie, never imagined I would come this far nor would I ever experience things like this.

One day I was a little girl with no care, content with my little space in the world. Then life did what it does best - I had to grow up. Sometimes life showers blossoms of happy times, often it shoots sharp arrows straight to the heart. Decisions had to be toiled upon and life lived with consequences. I had visions of what I want my life to be but did not have the slightest idea how I could get there or if it's even possible. But having our only True God as a best friend and cleaving to him, having faith and courage, life is better than whatever I imagined it to be.

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