My blog posts were about homeschooling and filled with my favorite quotes and poems.
Then I confessed that I loved TV and the movies and fashion and swimming babies and mustard.
Life happened and it was mostly beautiful. But it was also tragic and sad and way too hard.
But then the most remarkable thing happened...the commenters came to life in a deep, important, real way. The wisdom, the teaching, the encouraging, the loving comments left for me and for one another is a little piece of heaven...of church....of Jesus.
So more than anything I am thankful that someone, anyone wanted to read this silly blog.
You have been my friends, my company, my encouragement.
You are the wind beneath my wings.
gag. erp. sorry...can't help it.
So I'll keep it short. Carol says that is my writing strength.
The rest will be pictures. Cause I love to look at pictures and make pictures and I gosh darn it...I want to Add to the Beauty.
What happens matters.
Love you.
Mean it.
Thank you for walking with me these ten years.
Encourage one another.
With love,
Donna
Thank you Donna for all your Bloggy goodness! You are a special lady.
ReplyDeleteMy dear friend, I was blessed the day I read your first post, and am grateful to Pioneer Woman to have brought you into my life. You started out a mentor, and became much more than a friend. It doesn't get much better than that. Much love from your East Coast sister!!! xoxo
ReplyDeleteYou are special, Donna. Your pictures, prose and perspective on life all touch my spirit and make me want to be a quieter person. Thanks for all of your insights and sharing your beauty with us.
ReplyDeletePerfect. Tears, here.
ReplyDeleteEach photo more beautiful than the next. Beautiful images - and beautiful souls.
Love this place. Thanks from the bottom of my heart.
Happy, happy 10th anniversary to one who adds to the beauty abundantly!! I feel so fortunate to have found this site 7 or 8 years ago and am blessed to call you friend, dear Miz Boo. The sense of family/community in the QLCS is so very special -- as are you. And many thanks for today's visual feast!! xoxo
ReplyDeleteMary Z
What a wonderful way to start my day.
ReplyDeleteThis post is beautiful. Happy Anniversary, Miz Boo!
Love you,
Farm girl
You are incredible and I am lucky to "know" you!
ReplyDeleteBridget in Minnesota
Hi, Donna, I too enjoy your daily posts. You often speak of your siblings, etc. and I know your parents died when you were young. Would you ever consider writing in more detail about your childhood i.e. how old were you when you lost your parents, were they in an accident, where you lived as a child, who cared for you after their death, where are you in the "birth order" . . . just things that would fill in the blanks for me - and probably others. Have a Happy New Year.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh - this post just made me feel the love. I don't comment as much as I should - but I want you to know that I stop by every day and appreciate the encouragement.
ReplyDeleteLove wins.
Happy New Year from our ranch here in Oregon, Darcy
I can't tell you how much your space in blogland means to me. Your gorgeous photos, favorite quotes/poems and the love you exude just pulls me in. I'm not a great commenter in that I don't get back by like I should, but I still enjoy the company here. Thank you, Donna.
ReplyDeleteLove your blog, your sweet encouraging spirit and your transparency. You make the world a better place and I am so happy to meet you in blog land if not ever in person! Happy New Year from Florida! Dorothy
ReplyDeletehttp://booshay.blogspot.com/2007/08/about-me-so-you-have-just-stopped-by.html?m=1
ReplyDeleteDear Anon, I have an about me page written in 2007. That will fill in some of the missing pieces.
http://booshay.blogspot.com/2007/08/about-me-so-you-have-just-stopped-by.html?m=1
ReplyDeleteDear Anon, I have an about me page written in 2007. That will fill in some of the missing pieces.
So happy to hear that you still can't imagine an end to your blog. I can't either.
ReplyDeleteI love your blog. No matter how my day goes, it reminds me of what is truly important.
ReplyDeleteWow! Congrats on 10 Years and thanks so much for your lovely stories and amazing blog. I really appreciate all you did for me when I first started blogging:-) You might not realize this, but you featuring one of my designs about 6 years ago lead to so many amazing things and a total career and life change for me! It's been a pleasure knowing you and watching your kids grow up. Cheers to many more fun years to come!!
ReplyDeleteHappy Blogiversary! I really enjoy reading your blog! Looking forward to several more years. -Missy
ReplyDeleteHope you can read this…computer troubles at my end.
ReplyDeleteDonna, that is what you do…you add to the beauty of our lives every blog you offer.
Thanking God for you and the QLCS. love and prayers, jep
Oh. My. Gosh. This is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteHappy 10 years, Donna!! I remember so many of these photos.
Donna, it says in the bible to seek out what you are gifted with. One of your gifts is encouraging others. Reading your blog for the past several years always makes me feel encouraged. Your photos always bring joy to my heart! I hope you realize how much you touch people. Thank you, and God bless you and your family this new year! Beckie from Kansas
ReplyDeleteLove this! I'm glad to have you around to read!
ReplyDeleteI've never seen the one of you and Patrick before...........hope you have that one blown up in your house somewhere. It's perfect! Karen F.
ReplyDeleteReading your blog is a part of my daily routine. Happy 2014 to you and your family.
ReplyDeleteHappy ten year anniversary, Donna! You made it your goal to encourage, to add to the beauty, to be a safe and fun place on the internet, and you have gone above and beyond! Thanks for being an excellent broker of dear friendships, one unafraid of the truth, one willing to express sadness and grief, one willing to love deeply no matter what the cost. Your writing adds beauty to my life, and I am grateful.
ReplyDeleteHere's to a faith and hope and love-filled 2014!
Your friend,
Di
I don't think I've ever commented - but I've enjoyed your blog for many years. (and photos)
ReplyDeleteYou are a light to the world. I've been a long time follower of your blog... I don't comment much, but I always read. You always, always uplift. I LOVE that!
ReplyDeleteThank you for using your gifts and sharing them with us. We do love you immensely. It is bittersweet to look through the pictures: Sweet Sue, your folks, even seeing Katie so young. Thank you for your transparency and your lack of pretension.
ReplyDeleteI am reminded of my old friend who saw me in the dentist office (in our small town) and said, "I saw you on Quiet Life!" And how my response would be the same as all of your readers: "Oh, Donna is my friend!"
Congratulations on ten years! Can you imagine ten more? (she whispers, hopefully)
Happy Happy 10th!
ReplyDeleteHappy Anniversary...you are lovely, Miz Donna!
ReplyDelete10 years! No way! Happy Anniversary! I feel very blessed to have found you and your blog. You are one of the very few blogs that I look forward each day. You are sweet and kind and this little corner of the world is a peaceful place. Your love for your family and the Lord shines through in your writing and your pictures. Thank you Donna and family for blessing your readers! Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteTen Years! Yipppeeee! So glad a friend introduced me to your blog so many years ago, Donna, as I continue to be blessed by you - your pics, your quotes, your pins, your dotes (okay, I needed a rhyme....hee hee....) Also been blessed by meeting you IRL, my dear fellow Packer backer :-)
ReplyDeleteKeep shining the love of Jesus on all of us!
Blessings,
Tammy ~@~
Kee
Donna, thank you so much. Congratulations on your ten-year blogging anniversary. I read other blogs hit and miss, but yours every day that you post. I love your creative soul that sees beauty in the simple, the everyday, the things full of grace. Your quiet spot on the Internet is such a blessing.
ReplyDeleteDebbie Z.
As so many others have said-- Your blog is my little comfort place on the web. It's safe, and encouraging, and beautiful, and hopeful. Hearing the song Add to the Beauty and looking at your pictures made me tear up. Just lovely and meaningful. I thought of a quote from Ghost Town-- You just get the one life, you know. Just one. You can't live someone else's or think it's more important just because it's more dramatic. What happens matters. Maybe only to us but it matters.
ReplyDeleteHappy Blogiversary!!!! Thanks a million.
Kim D from SC
I remember the day you told me to find your blog. :)
ReplyDeleteYou use your gifts exceedingly well. Encouragement, writing and photography.
Congratulations on 10 years. I love you and I'm so proud of all you've done in your little corner of this crazy place called the internet.
Love you, mean it. Time a million.
the privilege has been mine Donna
ReplyDeleteAmen, Kathy!
DeleteYou are my FIRST read every day, every morning. Thank you for being there and I plan to be HERE (with you) for the next 10 years and beyond. Your beauty as a person is enhanced by the beauty of your photography. Sharing yourself and your family/life is a gift to us all. God bless you. Linda
ReplyDeleteHi Donna! Congratulations on your 10 year mark. I have been reading you for probably six years now. I, too, read you first thing in the morning, before I get started at work. Your words and your pictures touch my heart and I need that first thing in the morning in this crazy world. Please don't leave us for a very long time. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad I found your blog. It is uplifting and makes me feel better each day! Thank you for the sharing and giving of yourself. Hugs.
ReplyDeleteLate getting here, but soaked it all in, and loved it so much. Beautiful family, photography, and soul. In your blog you are letting us read you home, and we do it right beside you. I know on some days it is an effort, but you never know who you are going to bless.
ReplyDeleteDonna, thanks for this. I too found your blog through Ree, and I'm so glad. I rarely comment but I'm a daily reader. Thank you for your beauty. I love seeing the world through your eyes. It makes me think, wonder, investigate and find the beauty in the sometimes ordinary life.
ReplyDeleteThank you,
Michelle
I love the way you see beauty in the smallest things. I'm not sure how I found your blog but I am so glad I did.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Jane
So glad I know you, Donna!
ReplyDeleteI love to read your blog and view your pictures! . You are blessed with a wonderful family. I must confess that everytime I looked at your beautiful children with red hair, I wondered where did that red hair come from.....today, I figured it out --- a picture of your husband with a red mustache and hair. Love the Red!
ReplyDeleteThank you all so much for the wonderful comments!!! I can't believe how blessed I am.
ReplyDeleteI don't think you will ever know how much you mean to me. This blog would not exist without you all.
Thank you.
I would be very lonely without you.
I fell in love with your blog when I read your sign off - Encourage one another. Amen. And thank you.
ReplyDeleteI've been stopping by for at least six years - I need the beauty you bring. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteLove, love, love this post!!
ReplyDeleteSandy R
Magically beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI've commented here many times, Donna, often for it to vanish, but today I'm going to write (and re-write as many times as I have to) to say thank you. You bring a true authenticity to life - I know, I know - the word is SO overused, but when I think of someone authentic, you pop into my mind. I am blessed by your humility, your brevity, and your breath-taking photography.
ReplyDeleteThank you... for sharing your heart with me!
--mary e. in wheaton
Hi Mary! I am so happy your comment stuck!!! I I want to let you know I see it and I am thankful for you!
DeleteCongratulations! I love your blog, you truly are a dose of daily inspiration. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteKim L
Congrats on 10 years. I adore your blog.
ReplyDeleteLoved this post
ReplyDeleteWith love for you, to you and for the encouragement.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this space, and thank you for sharing the beautiful pictures. The one of the baby hand just reminded me that I haven't taken enough candid photos of my baby lately- and we've been stuck in the house for weeks, I should have thought f that. Off to get my camera before he grows up any more!
ReplyDelete