Am I good enough?

I've always struggled with thinking I'm good enough. Rather it's over my worth in regards to my husband or knitting--I'm consistently second guessing myself. Last week a blogger I love and obsessively read contacted me about some boot cuffs. I was excited. But a few minutes later after sending the confirmation e-mail--I felt myself start to panic. Clearly my knitting wasn't good enough. She would hate what I sent her, for sure. What did I think I was doing?

I have similar feelings when someone purchases from me on etsy. I get really scared they will laugh at my item and demand a refund.

But you know what? Not one person who has bought from me has asked for their money back. Usually they gush over what I've made and tell me all the compliments they've received. This surprises me every time.

Sure, when I started my Etsy shop way back in 2010 I clearly had no idea what I was doing. But I've grown. And learned from my mistakes

Making mistakes is okay. I've learned not to list something until I'm 120% satisfied with both the product and the pictures. And I've stopped trying to do it all. I only sell knitting in my shop now, no longer any sewn items. This way I'm not trying to focus on more then what I can handle at one time on top of the blog and my YouTube channel. I still love sewing, but I've decided that my needle and thread adventures are for me and not for sale! This took a lot of stress off my shoulders, let me tell you!

I'm happy with my product. I try to have faith in it and not second guess myself anymore. Everyone tells me what I've created is amazing. So why can't I see it that way?

I don't want to be overly critical of my own work anymore. Sure, I want to do the best that I can while verifying what I'm selling works. But I no longer want to be terrified of the mistakes I know I'll make. I want to realize that I'm human, and stop expecting perfection to slide off my crochet hook.

I don't want to panic when someone decides to spend their hard earned money to buy something from me! I desire to see it the way they do: buying a treasure to adorn their person while supporting a local artist. And I'm an local artist, a knitter of over 4 years now who knows a little bit about what she's doing.

I should start acting like it as well! I mean, I know I'm not alone. Do you ever feel not good enough? It's hard when there are thousands of people creating on the internet right along with you. But everyone is different. Everyone creates and experiences the world in different ways. And everyone has a story to tell. My knitting may be one among thousands--but it's the only knitting created by me, and I'm proud of it.

Thank you for being a part of my story.

He Shot/She Shot

The amazing Kelly of the Kelly Del Valle Blog came up with this cool thing you can do with your significant other! It's called He Shot/She Shot, and it features photography by her husband and by herself. I like seeing the different perspectives! (Well, I'm sure she didn't invent this idea but I'd never thought if it before.)

She's doing a link up so I thought I'd join in with Mr. Adventure, of course. He took the picture of me and I took the one of him!

I think his turned out better.

A lot of people ask me if my husband takes all the pictures I put on my blog, and the answer is not usually. 9/10 times I take them with a tripod and a camera remote. I think my husband is tired of me asking him to take my picture, since I do it so often.

Hope you guys are having a great day! What do you do for fun with your spouse?

Blaming Obama

Today I'm going to talk about politics. I've been holding on to my anger on this issue for awhile, but not anymore. Something needs to be said. Enough is enough.

What am I talking about? Well, my annoyance over how petty the political system has become lately. For starters, I'm tired of twisted political ads that try to lump all republicans or democrats or women or gays or Christians or __________ into one. Don't know what I'm talking about? Check this out:

What the cookie monster is this? I've been seeing it float around on facebook and pinterest. Every time I see it I loose a little more faith in humanity.

I'm pretty sure both liberals and conservatives want people to think for themselves. Unless they are corrupt, and I've met both corrupt liberals and conservatives. Liberals are not brainwashed zombies--nor are they trying to brainwash you. Now, notice I didn't say politicians aren't trying to brainwash you, because I think some of them do. Hence this ad that is trying to say something that isn't true made by a (probably) republican idiot. I'm so tired of these ad hominem ads.

I'm tired of memes that just play on generalizations. Let's discuss the facts and have open, candid conversations. I'm a conservative and I love thinking. I love discussing. I'm not for dirty air or dirty water and I'm not waging a war on females, gays, or any other minority. I want equal rights for all. I respect president Obama even if I don't agree with a lot of his politics. He was elected by the majority of Americans--he's what America wanted. I'm tired of being told I must be racist if I don't like his political stance.

I can't even...

I'm also aware that everything isn't Obama's fault. I'm so tired of seeing people blame Obama for everything. He may be president, but he can't control this nation! He's one man. Sure, he's not perfect, but the USA runs on more then just the whims of one person. I think a lot of politicians in the white house have forgotten to look out for America and are instead looking out for themselves. They take fancy tax-paid vacations and vote themselves bigger salaries and make themselves exempt from laws they pass on everyone else. Lots of republicans and democrats do this, not just one person.

Are you tired of this? Because I sure am.

I wish I could find a republican group on Facebook that didn't use the term "all democrats do ______" OR a group that didn't make fun of democrats. Or call them stupid. I know Democrat groups do the same thing to Republicans. I hate it when they both say "all Republicans hate women" or "Democrats want to destroy our nation". SO ANNOYING. Can't a group just exist without trying to tear down the other side? I think about it like marriage. My husband is one side and I'm another. I don't spend my time tearing him down. I don't use words that mean "you always do this". I think the democrat and republican parties need to go to marriage counseling.

hahahaha.... no.

If you think about it from a marriage perspective, it really makes sense. Republicans are one spouse, democrats another. In marriage you don't accuse the other. You don't make sweeping generalizations. Instead you try to communicate and bridge your differences because you realize you are all on the same side. Both political parties are fighting for the same thing: a better America. And if one spouse becomes so self-absorbed and starts smearing the other one--that only alienates and furthers the gap. We need to be working together and loving each other for America. Sure, we won't always agree: but we've lost our respect. And because of that we've lost our ground to talk on without sneering at each other. It's like in a marriage before the war starts.

We've lost all respect for the other side because of their smear campaigns. And they have lost all respect for us because of ours.

It's sad. I hope we can stop pointing fingers and start working on actual issues.