So I have been muling over how to regain that creative edge I had many years ago. I don’t find myself eager to get to the workshop, scratching down building plans, or seeking out the next DIY or home project. What I don’t understand is that these are all hobbies and things that bring me joy, but I have zero interest in doing any of those right now. Once I get underway I have fun, but I am looking for that thing that you can’t stop thinking about, or have to force yourself to stop because you need to eat or sleep.
I think being titled, The White Cottage Farm, I feel like I needed to put myself into this box of builds, DIY, and projects. And while you will find that here, I think I should also share my joys outside that… like that of photography, to include photography/videography gear. SEO… yeah, that thing that everyone hates, I enjoy. I have taken the front seat in diving into SEO, and love the little science experiments and analytic dives that is search engine optimization. While only doing it for a little over a year, I find joy in learning all about the technical side of blogging and have turned to consulting with some local friends here in West Michigan. Lastly, Liz and I have done some talks and Q&A’s over the past year, and a lot of people have questions about social media and blogging, and I love coaching people or providing some insight from all of our experiences here.

With that, I am challenging my self to a daily Creative Challenge, of fully being present on my creative side and share something from anything that interest me daily. That may be found here on the blog, or on our socials, but I think by not sticking to a script and sharing the joys and blessing we are giving each day, I can help others that share the same interests or help keep my mind cool, calm, and creative.

The first day of my creative challenge is exploring simply sharing our day through photography. We started the day with a 9 month wellness check for Cope. As an update he is a rockstar on paper just as he is in person. Right down the middle of all the height and growth charts, and still a very-very happy baby. After the visit with the doctor, we came home and put him down for his normal first nap. Thinking he was sleeping, I went upstairs to get something out of the bedroom to find this little man wide awake and entertaining himself in his crib.

From there Liz had an appointment, that led us to downtown Grand Rapids. A quick dinner at Two Beards Deli, and a walk around the Grand Rapids Downtown Market. An indoor market of restaurants, a coffee shop, ice cream shop, and a few other little things. This was Cope’s first visit to the downtown market and he had a blast.



We headed over to Moosejaw for some much needed gear for our upcoming trip to Ireland. And if you are veteran or on active duty, they offer a substantial military discount on their outdoor name brand gear. We finished the night off with some light work on the computer, updating SEO, styling some new spaces in our home for the holidays and creating a packing checklist for our upcoming trip. This will be our first trip abroad as a family, and my first outside of the military. We plan on sharing all of our lessons learned and cannot wait to see the beautify Ireland in person.
I hope that this creative challenge inspires you to find the smallest little thing that makes you joy and forces you to be creative, if you were to challenge yourself with finding a new creative outlet what would it be? Keep an eye out for a more wide open blog of a little bit of everything to include more vlogs. We have fun sharing out little journey from farmlife to Liz’s new book, Cozy White Cottage, and the adventures those bring. Stay creative and as always give grace. -Jose
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