Happy Third Birthday, Desperately Seeking Sanity!

It all started three years ago with this post.

(You don’t need to go and read it.  It’s not really that spectacular. It’s just about me going out with a bunch of people that I used to work with.  But of you do go and read it?  And see the pictures?  I still own that shirt.  I wore it yesterday.)

Of course, my blog didn’t look like this way back then.

I was going to show you how my blog has evolved over time but the Way Back Machine is broken.   They suggest that I try again later.  Maybe I will.  If I remember.

I probably won’t.

But my blog has evolved and it’s been with the help of Lisa B.  She was here in the beginning and quite honestly?  I think she’s the only founding reader that I still have hanging around.  You might say it’s because she’s just enamored with my charming, funny personality, but let me assure you… she’s just worried about me and she likes to make sure that I’m staying on the right path.

She knows what really happened that night.  She also knows how following that night, I went to church for the first time, and my life changed.

So she likes to make sure that she knows I’m ok.

And I’m glad.

But over the past few years, I’ve met some other wonderful people in person via my blog.

Heather, Soliloquy, Kathy, Jo-Lynne and Lisa B. are those that come to mind immediately.  But I went to BlogHer in 2008 and I fell in love with San Francisco and was able to meet even more bloggers there.

When I started blogging, it was an outlet.  Lisa said I should write.  I wanted to write but I’m just not keen on pen and paper.  The name came easily, the blog went up fast and I hit the ground running.

And I was digging it.

There were very few comments, but that was okay.  This blog was for me not for anyone else.

Then the Ultimate Blog Party came around in March and blogging went from just for me to “omg. i might actually be able to make money with this.”

And it was then that I would imagine the days where businesses would contact me to offer giveaways on my blog.  I knew they wouldn’t do that if I didn’t have a decent sized readership, and my shift in focus went to trying to drive traffic, and comments to my blog.

It was stressful.  Looking back, it wasn’t as much fun as  I thought I was having.  My theme had to be just perfect.  My plugins all had to be up to date and I was always trying to add something cool to my diggs here.

And write.  I posted almost every day at least once… sometimes more.

People were fueling my fire.

And the offers started to come by way of reviews and the like.  But adding reviews and giveaways to the mix?

Just another responsiblity for me and one that I couldn’t handle well.

And then sometime around October 2008, the boy came along.

And my bloggy life changed a bit.

I was busy spending time with him and his family.  There wasn’t as much time to blog.  Suddenly, I realized that there was more to life than just my blog and it didn’t matter how many people were reading.

Due to some personal issues over the last year, my blogging tapered off.

I missed it, but I had other things that I had to focus on and I couldn’t write what I wanted to write.

And then sometime around November, I decided that I was going to blog every day, and I’ve been pretty regular ever since.

Yes, my shift in focus changed, but my love for this blog has not.

I still love the name of my blog.  I still love to get your comments.  I still love to look at my dashboard and see that I have 940 posts invested into this space of mine, and I say that not to brag that I’m working on 1000 posts, but rather, as an accomplishment.  Of those 940 posts, a great deal of them were posted because I needed to work through something; because I needed to get something out there.  I can go back and read various posts and see how much I’ve grown as a mother, a person, an employee, and a Christian.

The changes are documented right here.

There are stories that my kids will want to pass on to their kids right here.

I’ve chronicled my life, my faith, not with the intent to make sure others hear it but so that I can look back and see where I was and where I am now.

And it’s nice that my bloggy birthday is today because I’ve been in a little funk and in looking back over the past three years, I’ve been able to see the way things have shifted in my life.

So, it’s my birthday.

And I’m seeking PRESENCE not presents!

YOUR presence.

Just today…just this once.

If you’re still around, I would love for you to delurk, just for today, and say hello. I know there are some of you reading that I’ve not gotten the chance to know.  There are my old faithfuls.  I’m greatful for you whatever category you happen to fall in.

I’m looking forward to another 940 posts and a whole lot more years.

And I hope you’ll continue this quest for sanity with me.

Until next time…