Bloggie Bestie – Tina of Tico & Tina

Hello there friends! 
Today we are excited to introduce you to Tina of Tico & Tina, this week’s Bloggie Bestie and current XL sponsor on Truly Lovely! I’m over at their place as we speak sharing a post, so I do hope you’ll come by and say hello and browse around all the fun things going on over there!!!
Here’s Tina…..

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I’m honored to be exchanging posts with Truly Lovely today as bloggie besties Kassi has been helping us out on the summer project we’re currently on the road with, and we’re so thankful for her!

Since we decided to get back into blogging, and put more effort into it at the beginning of the year, it’s been a little bit of a trial and error trying to find our way into our blog identity. We’d blogged back in the day after getting married, wanting to document our lives and because I liked writing anyway, you know, the usual, LOL. But life got busy and we stopped completely for several years because I felt guilty spending time on it.

When I turned 30 last year I decided that it was time to stop feeling guilty for giving myself time to do something that mattered to me. And strangely, I soon found myself on a journey of self-discovery. I felt like I already understood myself fairly well and was at least sort of confident in my 20s, but as I started writing again I began to realize that there were so many areas in which I just really wasn’t fully alive and I decided that 29 years was quite long enough to live like that. I decided I was not going to keep waiting for someone else to validate me, not hide the creative parts of me anymore because I didn’t feel good enough.

I’ve since run across quite a few women who have said they somehow just started knowing themselves and being more confident in their 30s, too. I don’t think 30 is a magical number or anything, I think you can decide at any age to let enough be enough, let go of the fear of being vulnerable, of your insecurities, and just start taking one step at a time, putting one foot in front of the other… I think you’ll be amazed at what you’ll discover on that adventure. I know it’s been a wild ride for me, and I only wish I had started sooner.

The funny thing is, it’s nowhere near as difficult as you imagine it to be. Sure, there are moments of discomfort and uncertainty, but one little step at a time is certainly ok, even better if you have someone to walk with you! Personally, I try to follow where I believe God is leading me, and a lot of the time I can barely see the path, so it’s kind of like I’m moving forward with my hands outstretched trying not to trip over anything. But I know that he is faithful to hold me up when I’m keeping my eyes on him, and I cling to that faithfulness.

As we’ve walked this path together as a family, our vision has become much more honed and part of our passion is helping others to hone their vision as well, which we do in a business capacity through our creative solutions company, Kaleidoscope International. As we’ve gone through so many transitions in the last couple of years, the most major being this year as we cut the ties and embarked on a nerve-wracking journey of total self-employment, we’ve realized that the main thing we want to be known for is “Embracing the Journey”. We want to live with a mindset of adventure and appreciate the ups and downs for what they are, building blocks and opportunities to learn and grow. It’s rarely easy, but it is good.

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So fun and brave these peeps are!!! Thank you Tina for sharing your heart with us today!
You can find Tico & Tina pretty much all over the web…. 😉
* Blog * BlankCanvas Tour * * * *

Have a lovely Thursday dolls!