Why I Blog

This blog is not an update for family and friends around the country.  Actually none of my family or friends even know that I do this, nor do I want them to.  I don't have a need to share the minutiae of my life with the world.  This blog does serve as a means to document Evie's childhood, but it's about me too. 

If someone asked me, "So, why do you blog?" the answer would be relatively simple.  I love to write.  I may not be great at it, but I've always enjoyed writing.  I used to keep a journal, from the time that I was 13 all the way through college and those tricky first years after college.  I love to look back at it and read about the things that were SO amazing/devastating/dramatic at the time.  (My favorite entry is about the first time that M told me he loved me...January 16, 2002.  Yup, I'm a sap like that.)

In high school, I had a knot in my stomach turning in English papers, afraid that my teacher would judge me for my thoughts.  I got over that my senior year because of an amazing English teacher who was incredibly hard on his students, but also believed that each of us could live up to his expectations.  As a teacher myself, I have even more respect for him now.

In college, I enjoyed writing papers.  I actually looked forward to writing my 40-page master's thesis last year. (I'm also a nerd like that.)  Researching was not my favorite, but putting all of my findings and ideas down on paper was a great experience.   I love to tweak and edit.  I often publish a post, and then go back and change it 5 or 6 times because I decide I don't like a certain word or the way I originally phrased something.

In another life, I think I was meant to be a writer.  Blogging is my way of putting my thoughts down on "paper" with the added bonus of reading others' thoughts about similar topics.  I have been surprised by some of the connections that I have found in the blogging world.  I never thought that this could help me through a tough time or make me laugh the way it has.  Blogging will definitely be a part of my life in 2012!!

One funny story:  Once, I actually even said in a job interview, when the interviewer asked what my dream job would be, that I would love to be a travel writer.  The interview was not for a teaching job, but for a position as a receptionist at a bank.  What was I supposed to say???  "I want to answer your phone for the rest of my life."  What a terrible interview question!!!  I got the job, and promptly left it 6 months later for my first teaching job.  ;)