When I started this blog 2 years ago, (wow can’t believe it’s been so long!!) I wasn’t too concerned about a name.  Not knowing much about blogging, what I wanted the space to be, and figuring that me, myself, and I would be the only ones reading it… I decided to name it exactly what it was, “New to me.”   I knew that was pretty boring, and since I was a French minor and well, everything sounds better in French (right?) I called my space Nouvelle a Moi. Plain and simple.  And then there was my description…

“In some ways I compare my new stage in life to arriving on Pandora in the movie Avatar (I’m not as dorky as this makes me sound, I swear).  It is a beautiful place, full of beautiful amazing things- and yet there are aspects of it that are frightening, and almost everything about it is new.  This blog is a way to help me figure out what this new place looks like- I have no idea what to expect, but plan to enjoy as much as I can.” 

Go ahead and giggle at me.  Reading that, I’m laughing right along with you.  As you might be able to tell, I had a slight obsession with Avatar.  Seriously, I loved that movie.  And for whatever reason, apparently I felt really connected with it at the time, hah.   

Besides giving myself a little laugh, looking back shows me how far my space has come, and how much I have grown since it’s beginning.  Realizing that my blog was much more than just a random outlet - I decided it was time for a new name.  I wanted it to be more than just what I was feeling at that time in life (Avatar, hello) and instead, be more of an extension of who I am.  I wanted it to be true to me, who I want to be, and what I hope my blog will be.    

Looking for a name that did a good job of that, one that I wanted to be near and dear to my heart, took F.O.R.E.V.E.R.   I’m terrible at naming things and wanted it to be just right.  So, after much thought and many random ideas, lovemin found its way into my heart.

I shared the unveiling with you back when I first named the space, but now that I’ve officially switched over with a new logo and made www.loveminblog.com my home- it feels like time to share the heart behind the name. 

Here’s what lovemin is to me: 

·      a play on the idea of "love, Mindy" – All my blog posts are written from my heart, with love.  I want people to feel loved when they stop by my page

·      a play on my nickname of Min – my name is Mindy, but those close to me often refer to me as Min… meaning I'll get personal and be real with you on my blog.  

·      a play on sounding out the name as "love ‘em in" – as in, ‘love them in’ to the Kingdom. 

This last one is the one that sold me on the name, because it gets to the real heart of the reason that I write.  Let me explain.  I believe that God loves us so much that He sent his Son, Jesus Christ to die on the cross and save us from sin through His resurrection.  And I believe that we have a loving God who He wants us to be a part of sharing His story and proclaiming His love with the world so that one day everyone might come to know Him.  That’s a huge part of my heart, and ultimately the reason that I write- that’s the reason I live the way I do- And that’s my goal, to love others into His kingdom.

That is why lovemin is so near and dear to my heart; it is a reminder that just as my life is not all about me, I don’t want this space to be either. It’s about loving others in to His Kingdom.  Having that name smack dab at the top of my blog, in my url, on my business cards and what-have-you, is a good reminder of all that I want this space to be- and of the creator who shows me His love each and every day, even when I don’t deserve it.

Sharing the heart behind lovemin, I hope that you have a greater understanding of who I am, and what you’re going to get when you visit this space.  It is most definitely not going to be perfect, or clean-cut, or all about butterflies and roses, because life is messy and it is hard.  But what you will find is this- words from a girl who writes from her heart, who will get personal and be real with you, and who wants you to leave knowing that you’re loved. 

xoxo

For quite sometime now, I have been dreaming up how I want to re-organize and re-design my little space on the web.  I am still in the process of dreaming this up- it is on my ever growing list of things I want to do... but I've felt the need to wait for a "big reveal" sort of moment when I had all my little eggs in a basket and had every corner of my blog re-designed and set to go.  But then last night, as I was playing with the A Beautiful Mess app on my iPad, I created a little placeholder for what I hope will someday be an amazing and fitting header.  It was fun to make, and I like the feel of it so I decided to get over my perfectionistic attitude for a little bit and allow myself to throw it up here until I figure out my new and complete redesign.  (And this header finally has my new blog name on it!) I had been so stuck on this "wait till it's perfect" mentality, that I think I took away some of the fun of having a blog in the first place.  I felt a sense of returned freedom as I let go of that mentality and simply changed the image that took place at the top of my page.  So this is me saying, watch out- I'm cutting loose and letting myself have fun with random changes and redesigns on my page.

I really look forward to the day where I can look at my page and feel proud and satisfied with what I've created.  I know that it will come, someday.  For now I am just going to keep plugging along, keep learning (I'm taking a class about re-designing my own blog by the ladies over at ABM called Blog {Design} Love!) and keep dreaming up my perfect design.

Who knew I was limiting my own freedom and fun?!  Cheers to cutting loose and finding joy in things that are less than perfect.

I'm excited to be sharing this post today because it is something I have been sitting on for awhile.  A couple months ago I decided to take the jump and explore developing my blog more.  Since then, I've been taking a blog course called Blog Love (which I talked more about here), I finally landed on re-naming my blog loveMin, I've thought a lot about what I want my blog to be, what I don't want it to be, and in the near future I'll be working on giving it a face-lift. 

With this in mind, I decided that it might be fun to have a few photos of myself to use for my blog.  One thing that you should know about me is that once I get an idea in my head, it's hard to put it on the back burner.  If at all possible, I love to put a plan into action ASAP.  It was seriously my lucky day when I texted my friend (who happens to take lovely photos) asking her if she'd like to help me with a random little project, and she said "Sure! I can be free in an hour!"  It was fantastic! 

In less than an hour and a half I went from brainstorming this idea to cleaning myself up, throwing on a bright red lip, a photo-ready outfit, and running out the door in my favorite shoes to begin a little photo shoot fun.  I'd spotted a lovely cream city break wall with some bright red hearts right on the corner of a street in my town that seemed like a perfect location.  I mustered up all the inner confidence that I could and posed on the street corner as cars whizzed by- in hopes of capturing just a few lovely, artsy pics.  

After snapping a few pics on the wall of hearts, and staying as warm as possible (don't be tricked by the sleeveless dress, it was freezing outside), we decided to trek to one of my favorite local spots- The Ruby Tap.  On a normal visit, we grab a glass and make several trips to the self-service wine machines and maybe even some cheese to go along with it.  But this time, we grabbed a glass of wine and snapped a few more photos.  It has such a cozy, yet swanky/chic environment that it was a perfect spot to capture a few more shots.  [One of my favorites at Ruby Tap, is the image below on the left.]  

A few hours later we decided to wrap it up and head on home.  It was a blast and a great first experience of capturing some cool photos for the blog.  This is one area that I am hoping to improve on in the future- I'm even working my way towards getting my very own DSLR camera!!  But for now, I am so so thankful for my sweet friend Melissa who was willing to take these photos for me.  She was great! (Be sure to swing on by her blog The Hungry Milwaukeeian where she takes lovely pics of her culinary adventures in Milwaukee.)

I'm really happy with how these turned out, and excited to finally share some of them with you.  I look forward to incorporating these images and capturing more as I continue working on developing my blog space.  I have a lot of ideas in mind and a lot, a lot to learn.  Thanks for sticking with me as I continue to share both my joys and my struggles; I can't wait to see what God has in store for this adventure.  

xo

[Images by Melissa Yates]

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xo

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