This is My Story

I started my first journal when I was 11.

I now have a child who is 11. Whoa.

I used to journal every day. Every. Day.

After Gabe's birth, I started blogging every day. Ben had created a website and it was a fun way to keep grandparents and close friends up-to-date on what my toddler and infant were doing. And I enjoyed it.

Stories have always intrigued me. My grandmother was a wonderful story teller. I loved to listen to her stories. I couldn't get enough. They may not have been particularly exciting to anyone else, but they were about her and her family. My family. I loved her stories because I loved her.

So, I wrote. Then I blogged. I wrote and blogged about everything and nothing. Honestly, I blogged about whatever I was thinking about sometimes. It was a bit all over the place.

But then the blogging world exploded. It became impersonal. It became a way to make a living. Blogs were slick and shiny and full of give-aways and sponsored posts and professional photography.

I felt lost. I felt like it was simple and self-centered to have a blog that was just about me and my life. It seemed immature to put my thoughts out there for anyone and everyone. Like, "Who do you think you are? Who cares what you have to say?"

I felt like everything I wrote or shared was being done better by someone else. Show off a picture of a craft project? Well, someone else has done the same thing but they posted a 35-step tutorial to go along with it. Visit a beautiful location? Someone else has posted stunning photos that would make a seasoned professional cry in envy. What was the point? Since then, through the years, I've blogged in fits and starts. Sharing mainly the bigger or more exciting things we do, but never getting back to that place where I just jump on here every day and just write.

Last night, at our monthly homeschool support meeting, the ladies were discussing journaling or scrapbooking our kids and the projects/events they do/participate in. That lead to a couple of people speaking up and saying that they wished they'd recorded the stories of their parents or grandparents before it was too late and they passed away. The encouraged others to learn from their mistakes. "Don't let them slip away before you get them to tell you their stories."

Well, this is my story. In my words. With less-than-stellar pictures. And few tutorials. And no giveaways.

And no apologies.

Because it's not for you and, really, it's not even for me. It's for them. My children and grandchildren and heck, with technology being what it is, my great-great-great-great grandchildren. This is my story. This is their story.

Hi kiddos. I'm glad you're here. Settle in. :)