Why?

 

Why a blog? 

Why "Confetti and Paprika"?

This is not my first blog. In fact, this is my second. Back in 2007, I created The Erickson All-Stars, as a way to keep family and friends updated on my family's adventures. I wasn't a huge fan of Facebook at the time and honestly, blogging was far more fun for me. 

It turns out that The Erickson All-Stars was more than just a blog. When my daughter was diagnosed with leukemia, it was a way to keep our family updated and it was extremely therapeutic for me. I was hesitant to photograph her journey, but an online friend who I met through a photography course encouraged me to photograph all of it...the good, bad and ugly. So I did and documented it in my blog. I did not know what the future looked like for her and our family, but I was determined to not let the unknown stop me from documenting life and accepting every single second of it.

As life moved forward and got back to "normal" (if that is really a state), the documentation of my family through The Erickson All-Stars slowed down. I went from posting many times a year to posting once a year. I loved blogging; however, those years taught me something. Being fully present with my family mattered more than documenting every detail. With our kids growing and life wonderfully full, the blog took a back seat.

Fast forward nearly 16 years.  My kids are grown, working, and attending college, and my husband and I have stepped into the "empty-nester" life.  So here I am again. I am ready to write. Life is still busy but now I have a little more space to share stories.

The name Confetti and Paprika came to me in an unexpected moment. One Easter Sunday, I was texting with a friend. We had just returned from church, dinner was in the oven and I was in the garage attacking what seemed to be a 3-foot-high pile of smelly, dirty clothes. As I shared with my friend that I was doing laundry, she told me that she was relaxing by her pool after her family took her out to a lovely brunch. Ugh! There I was pulling stained baseball pants right side out in my garage. (That's another story...I dreamed of having a laundry room inside the house rather than in the garage.)

I put my phone down and looked at the pile of dirty clothes. I immediately had a shift in my thinking.  The dirty laundry was no longer a burden or a chore, but a gift. The dirty clothes with all the different colors were proof of life; colorful evidence of sports, theater, school, jobs, and vacations. Most importantly, it was proof of three healthy kids. Just a few years earlier, one of them was given a 30% chance to live. It represented us having lived through the most difficult time in our lives. That messy, colorful pile suddenly looked like confetti. A celebration of survival and togetherness.

And Paprika? That came from my dad, who nicknamed me that when I was little because of my red hair. Over the years, the nickname stuck and grew on me. Paprika is bold, a little spicy and full of character; kind of like my personality.

So, there it is...Confetti and Paprika!

It is my hope that as you follow along, you will laugh, cry and even grab a nugget or two for your own journey.