How it all began! *UPDATED*

Update to answer the question I forgot to answer..."What do you know now that you wish you'd known when you started?"

Today Chilihead is having a bloggy festival about how we all began this addiction called blogging. Go check out everyone else's stories, but not until after you read my story! :-)

* How did you start blogging? The word "blog" was not even a part of my vocabulary until only a few months ago. I am sure my husband wishes it still was not a part of my vocabulary...he gets to hear me say daily, "oh, now that's something for the blog" or "oh, I read on a blog that..." or "I need to check my blog..." and on and on! But he can blame it all on Shannon! Last fall I stumbled upon Shannon's Rocks in My Dryer blog. I don't remember the exact date or even how I found it, but I did and I began to follow along with her every day. I soon began to check into everyone she linked to and I became addicted! I loved looking into the lives of other moms and learning from their wisdom. In January 2007, after reading blogs for about 3-4 months, I decided to start my own.

* Did you intend to be a blog w/a following? If so, how did you go about it? Well I would be lying if I said that I didn't have a deep down desire to be one of the famous Mom Bloggers, but that was not my intention from day one. My main intention when starting the blog was to just share about me, my family and my life.

* What do you hope to achieve or accomplish with your blog? Have you been successful? If not, do you have a plan to achieve those goals? My main goal was and is to make my blog an outlet for my long forgotten writing skills. When I was in high school I was an active part of our school's monthly newspaper and I loved to write. My dad is in the newspaper business so I had first hand knowledge of the inner workings of the business. I loved to "report" about things people did not know about. I left the journalism world behind upon graduating high school and those writing skills I once had were long forgotten. I thought Blogging would be a great way to let me write again.

* Has the focus of your blog changed since you started blogging? How? I don't think I started wtih a focus. I simply just share about my life. I have done that all along in the past 5 months so I guess my focus as stayed the same.

* What do you know now that you wish you'd known when you started?
Just how much fun blogging is...and how addictive! I never would have guessed that I would see things happen and file that memory in my brain under "Blog." Oh, but now I do...I watch for blog stories!

* Do you make money with your blog? Nope, not yet. I say not yet because I would like to make a little big of extra money...wouldn't we all? I have checked in to a few advertising companies for blogs, but most are at full capacity and are not accepting new bloggers. Plus I need more regular readers so I could qualify. Dang it, the whole popularity bug is following me even after high school!

* Does your immediate or extended family know about your blog? If so, do they read it? If not, why? I know that my dad does. I think my husband checks it out when he is on the computer at home, but he doesn't want to admit it! My mom and sister are aware of my blog, but I don't think they are regular readers...if they are they don't tell me. Otherwise I don't think any other family members are aware of my blog. I don't like to talk about my blog in person...it makes me a little uncomfortable. I kind of see it like a personal journal...only I share it with the entire world via the worldwide web. I will censor certain things and I know what I am comfortable typing about, but I still don't always want to TALK about it!

* What two pieces of advice would you give to a new blogger? #1 -- Don't expect to instantly become an overnight sensation. I'm not saying it couldn't happen to you, but there are such a large number of bloggers out there, it is often difficult to gain readership. #2 -- Don't feel obligated to blog every day. It can be difficult to find the time. Blog as it comes to you. Sometimes numerous things "come to me" on the same day...save some ideas for those days you can't think of anything.