Ten Years A Blogger

Today is my ten-year blog-iversary. Yes, that’s right, TEN years. Hard to believe!

I wish I had screen shots of all the old designs. I think I am on the sixth one. At least I have old business cards to document a few of them.

Since I started writing here, so many words have come from my brain, through my heart and down to my fingertips. This life of mine has been documented since before my second child was born, and now through the biggest adjustment of my life, all in this space here.

 

Growing up and even as a young adult, I always loved to journal and scrapbook. Back then I had no idea something would come along that would essentially enable me to do both. Writing for pleasure was a part of my life back then too, and expressing myself in words has always been very important to me. I am grateful that so many people over the years have been willing to read my words and follow along with my personal story.

The evolution of blogging has been a very interesting thing to watch and participate in during this decade. When I first starting writing here, it really was all about my day-to-day life with two little boys and each post was more like a general update. After a while I started to connect with other bloggers through link-ups and contests. We used to “tag” each other and answer long question “meme”s. Man those were the days.

Then for a while I was into working with brands and running contests and doing reviews. I won’t lie, the discounts and free products were nice.

Somewhere along the line though, it became much more about putting my words and photographs out there. I started participating in photo link-ups and soon realized that I had somewhat of an eye for photography. I began to want to capture many moments with my children and family. And then other families too.

Another astounding thing about this space are the positive ways it has changed my life. It gave me more confidence to realize the my talents and what I could do. Because of this spot, RIGHT HERE, I have made so many friends, through posting here and making those connections. And in turn, I have been published in print three times, many other sites online and have been on stage two times to tell my own story. And through Listen To Your Mother, I have had my eyes open to many others’ stories that are enlightening as well as life-changing.

None of this was expected when I sat down to type that very first post in November of 2006. I was pregnant with “Little G” at the time and I remember sitting in my driveway, at our house in Texas, starting this little blog on Blogger. Crazy.

 

When I go to conferences people often ask me what my blog is about. I’ve pretty much refined my speil and tell them it is a Lifestyle blog about my life as a woman and mother, that I also like to write about my past (memoir) and that I love to take photographs. I’ve never prescribed to any specific “niche” (as most of you know) and I have always tried to be true to myself and my readers.

I’m not sure how many people still read blogs these days. We spend so much time on social media now that I can’t even claim to be an avid blog reader myself. I also cannot guarantee this space will be around for another ten years, but I am elated it has lasted this long so far.

Thank you to those still checking in and reading.

Here’s to another ??? years and to all the great things blogging has afforded me.