Ok…so I already posted once today, but for some reason, the date that I saw as I uploaded my post gave me pause.

It seemed familiar to me, so I checked back.

Four years ago today, I wrote my first post.  You can read it here.

It was pretty lame, if I say so myself.

At the time, I was in San Diego for a soccer tournament.

I was also very stressed because I was working my way through Troy University’s online degree program, and I had lots of papers to write.

I spent Thanksgiving day holed up in the hotel room writing those papers.

Why did I decide to create a blog in the middle of my chaos-of-a-life?

I don’t know.

I think I needed an outlet.

Poor Super Sis.

Her ears needed a break.

Oh, she never complained, but I know myself all too well.

I’m long-winded.

I think that people avoid me sometimes because I cannot seem to answer questions with simple answers.

So, my blog was born.

Here are some interesting stats:

Not counting this entry, I’ve written 1,250 posts.

I’ve received 3,560 comments.

DQ, a friend from KnittingHelp, was the first person (other than indiscriminate spammers) to comment, and I cannot tell you how thrilled I was to discover that someone was actually reading what I wrote!

Rebecca first commented in August 2008, and she and I quickly developed a bloggy friendship.  In fact, I think that her’s was the first blog I began reading and commenting on regularly.  It didn’t take me long to discover a soul sister in this amazing young woman, and I know that if we lived in the same city, we would be at each other’s houses all the time laughing it up or yelling at Dancing With the Stars and Big Brother.

Over the years, I’ve “met” quite a few other amazing bloggers.  Sometimes, I’ve connected with them through comments they’ve made on other blogs.  Other times, they’ve somehow found my blog, started commenting frequently, and the friendships grew.

April is one such friend.  She is such a woman of God.  What initially connected me to her was our shared experiences of our daughters’ sports-related college recruiting.  As I began reading her blog regularly, I sensed that this woman had a deep, deep love for her family.  And they love her back, unconditionally.  She’s an inspiration to me.

Mary is another friend I met.  Though she has three boys, our love for soccer and band quickly drew us together.  Plus, we’re both in the field of education.  I was fortunate to meet Mary when she made a special trip down to Podunk, USA.  She’s a hoot, let me tell you.  I love her sense of humor.  What a wonderful lady!

This four-year blogging journey has seen its ups and downs.

Ups include my graduation, finally, from college.  I’ve written about Chicky and Rooster’s high school days, Chicky’s soccer adventures, both high school and travel, and her college adventures.  You’ve read how Rooster’s foray into band converted me from a soccer mom to a band mom.  Childrearing has never left me wordless, and there are still plenty of stories brewing in my head.  😀

I’ve written about my new career…teaching…and the ups and downs that have gone along with that.

I’ve been very open about my love for God and appreciation for Jesus’s sacrifice for me.  Such writings have gotten me into hot water in my personal life, but so be it.

Four years might not seem like forever, but when I look back over my 1000+ posts, I realize that it really is a long time.

It sometimes amazes me to go back and read through what I’ve “penned.”

There have been so many changes in my life, both personally and professionally.

I’m so grateful that I’ve shared what I’ve shared, no matter what others may have thought along the way.

I have no regrets except that sometimes I still hold back.

There’s still a lot of stuff I keep bottled up.

Some of that will stay that way…some stories unwritten.

You can be assured, though, that plenty more will be forthcoming.

Thanks for traveling this journey with me.

People always ask me, “Why in the world would you blog?  Why would you want to put all of that stuff out there?”

Besides having this incredible need to pour out much of my soul somewhere, I also know that I, myself, have drawn comfort from others’ experiences.  I can be a solitary figure.  Just knowing that someone else has gone through something similar to me, though that person may not know it, inspires me to share my own thoughts, concerns, and sometimes just blah blah, for lack of a better term.

Quite honestly, though, I never started this blog for anyone other than myself.  The mere fact that others do read it and connect with it and, thus, me, is humbling and fascinating.

So, with all of that said (I did say that I’m long-winded), here’s to four years of blogging at 1am, crying over my keyboard often during those posts, and, quite simply, putting most of it “out there.”

Thanks for being a sounding board, and thanks for your words of encouragement.  It’s nice knowing I’m not alone.

THAT’s the heart of blogging!

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: blogging, blogiversary | 5 Comments »

Three years ago today, I created my blog.

You can read my first post here.

Why did I start blogging?

Well, it was all because of a new web site called Ravelry.

If you are not a knitter or crocheter, you will have no idea what I’m talking about.

Ravelry is a site that was created so that yarnaholics could stay in contact with one another, search for patterns, and, in general, feed the passion for all things yarn.

On November 20, 2007, my official Ravelry “invite” arrived in my email.  See, back in those days, the web site was backlogged with requests, and you had to wait a couple of weeks to be set up in the system.

I had flown, with the family, to San Diego to watch Chicky play in a soccer tournament.  Although I had massive amounts of college work, I allowed myself small breaks.

Hence my decision to finally check out the Ravelry site I’d heard so much about.

In the process of customizing my profile, I saw a blank space for a blog.

“What’s this?” I asked myself.

I decided to investigate further.

One thing led to another, and you know me and technology.  We go together like chocolate and my mouth.

I spontaneously decided to create a blog.

I quickly did some research and decided to use WordPress.

For a long time, I had nursed a desire to write.  I had tried writing in a journal, but it just wasn’t my forte.  There was something about handwriting my words that just did not please me.

I think the problem is that my fingers could not keep up with the words in my head.

If you’ve ever met me in person, you know that I speak rapid-fire, much like my mom.

My brain works that way as well (unless it’s trying to compute figures).

Typing my thoughts sounded like something right up my alley.

I always had a lot to say.  My poor sister…I often felt bad for her…having to listen as I droned on and on about whatever it was that was currently on my mind.

Blogging provided a much-needed outlet for all of the stuff I had swirling in my head.

My blog has become a diary of sorts.

Sure, it’s open for all to read, but in some weird way, I feel a lot more comfortable confiding my thoughts in this medium.

As I write, I am forced to put into words the very emotions that, at times, threaten to overwhelm me.

Again, if you know me in person, you understand exactly what I mean.

There’s a lot going on inside of me, and I can’t hide it.  I’m not “emo” (as teenagers like to call it).  I am passionate.  I feel things very deeply.

The problem is that when I try to express myself verbally, my words often get jumbled together and wind up sounding incoherent.  I can only imagine what people must think as they walk away after a conversation with me…

“Lord have mercy on that poor girl.”

And so I have blogged…

And blogged…

And blogged.

My blog doesn’t tell me to be quiet.  My blog doesn’t wave its hand in a “hurry-up” type of motion.  My blog as never told me, “Just the facts, ma’am.”

My blog has never rolled its eyes or talked about me behind my back.  It’s always been here, waiting for me to come back and lay bare more of my heart and mind.

If you don’t blog, you probably think I’ve jumped off of the deep end.

My response is that I did that a long time ago.  heehee

I think that sometimes my students don’t understand why I require them to blog.  I don’t really expect them to this early in the game.

But they will…probably sooner than they expect.  I have a sneaky suspicion that a few of them will be echoing my sentiments on their own blogiversaries.

You know…I am ever mindful that God’s hand is in everything…even this very public forum in which I almost-daily share my joys, my hopes, my fears, and my struggles.

He has used this blog to bring me in contact with some very neat people.  Together, we share each others’ triumphs and tragedies.

And so, on this day, I wish my blog a happy blogiversary.  It’s hard to believe how far we’ve come in such a short time.  I look forward to discovering more about myself with each new blogiversary.

Filed under: This-n-That | Tagged: blogging, blogiversary | 4 Comments »