Kellso Collage

Ode to a Pumpkin, Haiku

Smooth, round face
Strong and sturdy sign of fall
Pumpkin, I love you

Ode to a P-U-M-P-K-I-N

Perched
U pon
M any
P orches-
K nife
I sn’t
N ecessary

Women’s Retreat

I have just returned from an AWESOME weekend (is 27 hours a weekend?) of fellowship and study with the women of my church. We were led in study by Chris Evans through the book of Titus. It was such a beautiful reminder of where we have come from, what we were saved from, and where we should be going. It gave us a great opportunity to pray for and encourage the elders of our church. As women, it was so encouraging and convicting to learn more about the duty and responsibility we have to be actively learning from older women, and, in turn, teaching others.

I babysat my niece, Gabrielle, yesterday afternoon while Sarah took a nap. (Yay!) I roomed with the girls in my small group, and truly felt I had a chance to get to know them, and several other women, on a deeper level. And, might I just say, that Melissa and Tonya know how to throw a Hospitality Room. Woot. What a blessing it was!

I can’t finish this entry without sending out a special ‘Thank you’ to Matt, who watched all 3 kids so I could have some time away…without any hesitation or complaining! He is a stud.

Stay tuned for more information about the Cookie Auction for Stephanie Nielsen…I want to earn some serious $$ for her kids!

Small group LUV

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There are many things I love in this life-My family, my church, the Bible… Those are the biggies, of course. We all have our little loves, as well. I love coffee. I love the woods. I love crafting. And this time of year I am reminded anew- I love Fall. I love the colors, the apples, the pumpkins, preparing for the Holidays…

Of course, there is one little snag related to this life love. I live in Arizona. Not in the woods, in the Valley of the Sun. Chandler, to be exact. I suspect the bulk of you reading this are within 15 miles of where I am right now (that’s where most of my friends and family are!), and understand the contradiction, but for those of you who have stumbled onto my blog from a far away place, let me clue you in. It’s hot. No, not warm. Hot. It’s still reaching 100 degrees most days as we near the end of September. Roaming through Gap looking at cable knit sweaters may be sentimental fun with the A/C blowing, but trust me, once you step outside, crisp, cool Autumn weather is the farthest thing from your mind. In the year 2000, I was teaching preschool at BLC and was struggling as a new teacher. It was fall, and it was HOT. The Barenaked Ladies song “Kiss Me” was very popular at this time, and every morning as I was getting ready for work, I heard the opening line to this song “It’s the perfect time of year… somewhere far away from here…” That pretty much defines the month of September for us Arizonans.

Oh, well! (I say!) I still feel the need to celebrate Fall, even if the weather never cooperates. I decided to give gifts celebrating Fall and the start of School to some ladies I love… my small group girls! I hope Alexis, Jen, Renee, Meghan, and Ashley enjoyed my mini-tribute to the season I love, and felt cared for as well. I think about and pray for them often!

So, what’s the big idea?

I have had the idea to do an art-based blog for a while…

Looking at art being created around the world is very exciting and inspiring to me. Scrapbooking and paper arts are a passion of mine, and I enjoy getting others excited about it, as well. There were a few things holding me back..Well, many things (see: first blog post!). Another hesitation I had was that I am not a regular Scrapbooker. I am a stay at home mother of 3, active in church and with family and keeping up with my home. So, how much and how often could I share my projects with others? Yet, I still love it and really make an effort to ‘get my hands dirty’ from time to time. (Seriously, if I show up to an event with green fingernails, it’s ink, not a fungal infection!)

While the idea for my blog was brewing, I overheard some girls from my church talking about their blogs. Many of my friends have “Mommy Blogs” documenting their day-to-day lives in the home. I have peeked at all of them, and follow some of them closely, I have laughed and cried over many of the stories of their sweet little ones. This conversation, in fact, centered around just that-using their blogs to make a difference in others’ lives, by exposing their hearts in their love for their husbands and children, and their desires to see them come to know the Lord and live a life that honors Him. Hearing these women, and looking at their motives in light of my wanting to do an Art Blog, I could think only one thing – “I’m a jerk.” My hatchling of an idea for my blog was quickly dropped, and forgotten.

But once again, try though I might, the blogosphere (shudder) had me in its sights, and there was no escape. As I have mentioned, there is a smidgen of a chance that I will need to have a blog to document my time on a team I might be part of. (One more week until the announcement!) (‘might’ and ‘chance’ being the operative words) So, there I was again, back at the idea for an art-based blog. I talked the problem (desiring to say something meaningful in a potentially frivolous blog) over with my hubby, Matthew. As is the trend with his casual, no stress, frazzleless, optimistic, rather medatative, and alltogether CRAZY worldview, he did not see any of this as a problem! In fact, he started to get really excited about my (?) idea of blogging about art-WITH A PURPOSE! Make the meaning behind the art the focus, and put tips and tricks to achieve the look of the art as a side point. He was right, of course: You can copy someone’s style as much as you want, but if what you’re creating doesn’t mean something to you, it can never be special to you. That is true whether you’re someone who Scrapbooks a couple times a year, or every day, 10 minutes a page, or weeks on one page. If you’re more of a photo album and frame kind of gal, or you create hand made cards to share at Christmas, it’s what you’re thinking about while you do these things that matters. Only then can it matter to anyone else.

So, there’s the outline for my blog. I give in world, Jenna Kellso has a blog, happy? Believe it or not, I am happy, I think it could be a lot of fun. I already have a few of my most recent projects photographed and ready for documentation, and now that i finally have my intro finished, AWAY WE GO!!

Yes, another blog!

Well, despite months of resisting I have finally acquired the newest must-have accessory for the modern woman: A blog.

Just this week, a friend commented on her surprise that I did not have a blog. Wait, she wondered-Do you have a blog?

Well, technically, yes, as of that moment. I have claimed, bought and named my very own website. Are there any posts on it? Is it fully designed? It’s concept and purpose fully realized? Not even close.

My delay in blogging wasn’t so much a personal protest as it was a complete neutrality of interest. I mean, first of all, let’s start with the name. Blog. “Web-…log?” It sounds more like a combination of the words ‘blah’ and ‘bog’, a very apt description of the internet in my opinion!

Another hesitation-I can not imagine a scenario where my life would be interesting to very many people. However, I have spent plenty of time looking at other people’s blogs, and my Mother, Mother-in-law and Grandmas are constantly asking for more pictures, stories, etc., so there goes that theory!

My final reason for holding back on getting a blog is more of an observation on a large scale, it is NOT related to all the Mommy Blogs I have laughed and cried over… You see, I have a theory related to things like reality TV, talentless celebrity socialites, athletes who try to be actors, and actors who try to be singers, and to a somewhat lesser extent, blogs…People are trying desperately to make their mark on a world that is constantly changing and has a very rapid turn-over rate. I mean, let’s face it…we all have looked back on family pictures from just 3 or 4 generations back, and gotten that sinking feeling…I have no idea who these people are! These people had friends, families, hobbies, jobs, they cooked, they cleaned, possibly made their local paper a couple times in their life, not to mention made life choices and laid down a genetic trail that somehow, someway led to me and my children…and the most I can say about them is that it’s lucky someone had the foresight to write their name on the back of this tattered photo! People don’t like to admit that a human life lasts about 80 years, their immediate influence lasts a bit after that, and that’s…about it.

But, in today’s world it’s easier to case a wide berth, get on TV, speak your mind, suddenly people seem to think that their lives, that THEY are interesting. They want to be remembered and acknowledged, not just another face in the crowd. However, the way most people choose to make themselves known is very flawed. In a world where many Presidents have faded into near-obscurity, I doubt very much that the winner of Can You Survive to Marry the Next Dance Idol? will be well known for long. Perez Hilton, if you’re reading this, I’m sorry, but it’s true.

And yet, in an instant, my biggest reason for NOT getting a blog became my biggest reasons FOR getting one. I can accept and acknowledge that my great-great grandchildren will not (or hardly) know me, that I will be naught but an ever shrinking branch on family trees in late 21st century school projects. I probably will never write a book, or have a painting in a gallery, win an academy award (besides ones shaped like shampoo bottles…). I am certainly aware that hardly anyone outside of my friends and family will read this blog…but what if someone does?

While my life may be nothing but “…a mist, that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” (James 4:14), ever widening and weakening like ripples from a stone thrown into a pond, THIS living stone has not yet hit rock bottom, I’m still making waves! (Oi.) If today’s world has invented ways of making a bigger splash, then we need people making the right kinds of splashes, wouldn’t you agree? I want the mist of my life to linger in my children’s lives, and all the lives I come in contact with, so they can pass the lessons of my life on to their friends and families…and so on. The waves may be ever weakening, but I want them to matter, as long as they last.

Enter, my blog. There is, at this point in time, a SMALL chance that this blog will be linked to from another website. I have entered a contest where, if I am chosen (BIG IF), I am required to have a blog to chronicle my time as a member of this team. (I’m being vague because I don’t want to go into details if (when) it doesn’t happen!) I promise to update as soon as I find out. But-despite the small chances-what an amazing opportunity! And thus, Kellsocollage was born.

I’ll save my vision for this blog (online journal? nournal? web document? bocument? These are much prettier names than ‘blog’) for another post, as I have rambled on for much too long already. All I can say now is that it will be art-based, focusing on all of life’s prettiest moments. And, if the first 40 sentences of this blog didn’t put you off from ever reading it again, that last one certainly will! (ha, ha)