That’s right. It’s time for a vacation. Somewhere warmer than Michigan.

Be back in one week!

Recently, a fellow (new!)  blogger (my lovely sis-in-law! welcome!) wrote an entire post about blogger’s in general…why the blog….The fact that some blog for the attention…The fact that some babble aimlessly about things that no one REALLY cares about to strangers, to people they don’t even know. It got me to thinking about why people I am connected with online…write for the whole world to see.  Mostly after I read a statement that didn’t really seem to describe me…and othersI’m close to…who are bloggers. I find that there ARE some people out there that fit this harsh description, to be honest:

“The typical bloggers that I notice most often are the same folk that tend to contribute their five-times-a-day Twitter and Facebook updates, all regarding topics that further profess how self-centered they really are. And for some odd reason people actually pay attention to these self-important ramblings.”

and I want to answer these questions, kind of:

“What is so intriguing? Why does a complete stranger even care? And why do they decide to post comments as if they have known the writer for years?”

Blogging, to some, is just NOT understood…So this is what it is for me….

For me, I began my online journaling probably around 10 or more years ago while I was in highschool. My desire to journal on paper had bored me, for some reason and I wanted to try out something new. At the time, I was a lot more frightened of being found by people I know, so I penned by thoughts under an anonymous name, changing the names of people I wrote about. It was relatively censored in what I shared with the world and it was enjoyable for me even though there was no one reading it.  But I was reading and commenting on the sites of Beverly, Jen, and Allura (when she used to blog!) for as long as I could remember….

I later moved my thoughts into communities such as Diaryland (2000ish – 2002?) and LiveJournal (2004). It wasn’t until I moved into these communities that I found others who were writing about “stuff” like I was. I usually didn’t comment a whole lot except to give some bloggers encouragement when they were going through rough times in their life, or needed advice, or needed to hear that they weren’t alone in this world.

That’s what blogging community became to me. I went through a lot of rough things over the years. College wasn’t always my thing, my parents split, a tough breakup with someone I loved very much (I had some growing up to do and needed to do it alone), dating someone who was…well, I wonder if he was bipolar, to be honest…that relationship turned abusive, I struggled with anxiety and subsequent depression. Not to mention dealing with being on medications and the resulting weight gain (that did NOTHING for my anxiety, to be honest).  I didn’t necessarily need anyone’s feedback on this. But what I found were people who were dealing with the exact same things, and had been there. Or maybe was close to someone else who had.  So I was able to help them. And they were able to help me.

I also found a lot of mid-20 somethings who were all struggling with self-identity, not being able to figure out what they wanted for themselves. Those who also wanted love to be a part of their life. Those who had found love. Those who were started to figure things out.  Some who loved dachshunds just as much as I did. I don’t even know how Ben found me to make me a part of Who’s Your Dachshund, but I like being part of such a unique project.

Over the years, I really have built strong friendships. I mean, these are real frienships. Like the one I have with Courtney, who was in my wedding last year. She means the world to me! Granted, I don’t know all the details of everyone’s life. But the thing is…We’re friends…and we’ve found a way to keep track of each other. Maybe we do babble about the silly little things in life.  Some might find the babblings worthless. In fact, there are a few people I used to follow that I stopped following because frankly, they got annoying. It gets annoying when someone writes about the same exact thing day in and day out. Or maybe they wrote something that I found offensive…that didn’t connect with me.  The friends I share life with online are people that I feel connected to — we have a lot in common.  These are also the friends that I have “conversations” with throughout the day on Twitter.

Maybe one day I’ll grow out of this.  Maybe not. And I’m sure my friendships online will grow or change as time goes by, as I change and grow. But I will always encourage one thing… If you grow tired of my babble? You can feel free to unfollow. No feelings hurt!  Seriously. If I’m boring or appearing too self-centered, you’re welcome to leave any time. I’ve told many that who wanted to talk crap about me.

To sum it up, as I’ve been all over the place throughout this entry (I’m at work and can only work on this for a few minutes at a time!)…. I blog for my own personal sanity and its a part of keeping in contact with friends…people that I really HAVE known for awhile — even if it is not in person. That’s pretty much it.

Why do YOU write? Do tell.

I have had issue after issue with my other template and have switched back to a temporary one. While a few of your have offered your services to help me create a new one, my former designer, my brother, offered to make me a new one for FREE! I guess he couldn’t figure out the issues either. The biggest problem is that we weren’t able to recreate some of the issues everyone was having. Sometimes you couldn’t see things correctly, or you weren’t able to comment. He and I had gone over the site using a few different browsers and still, we had no problems.

So while you lovelies have been alluring in your quest to get me to hire you, I can’t beat free — and besides, I love the template he had made for me. I know he’ll do a good job this time around, too! I’m curious to see what’s up his sleeve.

No telling when a new look will be up. Just enjoy this borrowed one for now!

Uh. I’m sorry. I’ve disappeared for a few days. It’s not like I forgot I had a blog. It’s just that I haven’t been able to come up with anything to say. Hmm….

So…what’s going on in my life this week?

• I didn’t weigh in this week. Sorry. Not going to happen. By looking at myself and they way clothes are fitting, I may have lost some weight. But I’m not interested in finding out just yet. I’m gauging my weight loss on this amazing dress I’m supposed to wear to a wedding in March. To be honest, if I lose more than 5 pounds, I’ll have to have it taken in. It fits me PERFECT right now. Like PERFECT PERFECT.  It was too tight when I bought it in December.
• I get braces put on today. In about 3 hours. I’m a nervous WRECK.
• I have a lot of reading to do for school. I don’t feel like it. Dang it.
• Dan’s mom had a spill at home broke a bone or two, particular the large bone in her arm…the radius.
• We are now scheduled to go up to see his parents this weekend to help his mom get some things done around the house and such. Not like his dad can’t do it (wait…why can’t he??)…But Dan wants us to help out.
• I’m missing the Michigan Blogger Meetup because of this. I’m frustrated.  Bummed I don’t get to meet a few people.  But we all live in Michigan. I suppose there’s a chance that I’ll be able to fix up something and will be able to meet them eventually!  Though I am a tad frustrated that I bought a really cute shirt to wear.

That’s about it. More later…. I’ll let you have a look at my metal mouth, perhaps.

Today is national Delurker Day!  I get a lot of hits on my site daily, but not the same amount of comments! I can’t admit that I’m always the best at leaving comments for those I read, but today, I’m making an effort to say hi at every blog I visit!