a crazy thought hit me thursday night. in the past week, i had flown from melbourne to sydney [friday] then sydney to vancouver [saturday] then to bellingham to seattle to salt lake city [wednesday] — that’s a lot of travel, a lot of airplanes & a lot of not being home. from october until now, almost end of january, i have simply been going. going all over the world in a literal sense and also “going” through a lot of thoughts. i was away almost every weekend in october, three weeks in november, two weeks in december and almost three weeks in january. i haven’t had a consistent home life since the end of september.

that is a long season.

travel is dear to my heart. the opportunities i have been given to see the world lately amaze me. however, i cannot lose sight of the truth that these three months were a season… and now it’s time to transition to another season. it’s a funny fact, but not once in the last 3 months have i missed home – homesickness? what’s that? – my heart was content to be away. give me a city, a coffee, my bible, let me wander, heck, take me back to quebec. but c’mon, jamie, that’s not all of you.

dang. you’re right. 

every trip [whether it be a weekend away on vancouver island or a two-week trek through australia] i have come home with God-thoughts. simple scriptures and whispers. if you were one of my best friends and asked me, how was your australia trip? you would probably receive an hour monologue about what God showed me about who i am, what personal struggles were revealed, etc., etc., & the very end… oh yeah, Sydney was pretty! beautiful. loved the harbour. and Melbourne, yes, great style, fun city. so fun. 

salt lake city was no exception. something clicked here. i was fine leaving home three days after australia: another trip, another city, one thing to the next to the next. utah was the last scheduled trip of my “travel season” & i wasn’t ready for it to be done. miraculously, 3 days later, i am. this chapter is closing. i am ready to start a new one at home. the feelings & emotions of a fresh beginning, a new year are finally hitting me. three weeks late. [better than never, i guess?] God has given me vision for 2012 and it’s as if i have been turning circles all winter and He’s reached out grabbed me mid-spin, let me gain my balance and then gently pushed me in a direction.

i am excited about this direction.
two simple things on my heart.
prayer and writing.
pray.
write.
repeat.

with ever increasing intensity.

day two of alt design summit passed quickly; in similar fashion to day one. friday morning involved a discussion on “the importance of consistent branding,” a session on “growing your readership” [hosted by oh happy day & making it lovely among others] and a keynote speech delivered by the brilliant ben silberman, founder of pinterest. one year ago, ben attended alt design summit with a fairly new website that was relatively unknown. fast forward one year, he’s a headlining speaker — and pinterest was recently named one of the 10 best social network sites. i adored ben’s speaking style, he’s super charismatic, informative but very humble, light-hearted at the same time. i love that the pinterest office motto is move fast and break things. i am always teased in my friend circle for being the girl who doesn’t know how to do anything slowly. that quote made me feel like i had found a new friend.

friday evening there were mini parties in some of the hotel suites, all with individual themes, sponsored by awesome companies. themes like a night in paris, chinese new year, vintage wine & cheese tasting, night of magic, sparkly clean, handmade by you, a summer afternoon & a cozy lodge. almost every themed room had a photobooth — and of course, kristen insisted we do a “photobooth tour! every room!” hahaha. i love how stoked she gets about pretty things like this. [note how i avoid photobooth props if at all possible. i'll smile, i'll enjoy myself but i don't wanna wear a hat okay? let me be.]

looking back on the two days here, alt design summit was a valuable experience. honestly, conferences as an introvert are always challenging — give me a one on one conversation [in depth] and i love to talk. put me at a table with twenty women? i turn into a listener and my energy gets drained. fast. probably the highlight [isn't this shallow?] of the summit was people-watching. the attendee’s fashion was ridiculous: check it out for yourself on the official flickr. the other, legit, business highlight was walking away a clearer picture of what i want my blog to develop into. i am passionate about blogging, but i cannot tell you that i am passionate about crafts, do it yourself projects or browsing pinterest for hours. i wish i could be, but i’m not. [this realization makes me wonder why i came, haha!]

however, i am learning what a successful, thriving, growing blog that i love should look like. i want my blog to be a place that readers come to be inspired, to be encouraged, to learn what i am struggling with as a young-adult christian and how i am overcoming those struggles in the name of Jesus. i want my blog to be a place where young adults can come to find new music i am loving, maybe even a new outfit i think is kinda fun — because i do like new clothes; i rarely like the shopping process. and of course, all of the wedding and engagement photos i take every month!

it’s not that i don’t appreciate art, fashion, design, food like a lot of the bloggers here at alt design summit do… because i appreciate it! but i don’t have that drive to create it. i am driven to write, i am driven to travel, i am driven to good coffee, i am driven to a great new songwriter i found — and that’s what i want to blog about. i have been seeking other young christian bloggers who have awesomely designed blogs with unique content and quirky touches. i might be looking in the wrong places, but it’s a slow-go finding blogs that are thriving like this… let’s just be honest here. a lot of the online christian community is a walking cliche. haha!

i’m inspired to start building a community of non-traditional, quirky, anti-cliche, christian bloggers.
help me. what are your favourite faith-based art, fashion, design, lifestyle bloggers? i want to learn about them.

kristen & i have finished up our first full day taking in everything that alt design summit 2012 in salt lake city, utah has to offer. we attended a bunch of classes today, including the business of blogging, tools for managing your online life, the relationship between traditional & new media, from blog to book & kickstarting your next project. some of the incredible bloggers we got to hear present included [but weren't limited to!] elizabeth anne designs, curbly, one charming party, design*sponge, the city sage, say yes to hoboken… and many, many more. but those are some blogs you should definitely check out.

& this evening we attended the winter wonderland party, aka “diner en blanc” — white is my favourite colour, so seeing a ballroom full of women [and a few men] dressed in shades of white was pretty magical. tomorrow, we wake up and do it all over again! enjoy a few little iphone snaps of my day. ;)