It’s actually not just my mom’s birthday today its also the blogs birthday today! (See there I go again – crowding my mothers day!) And this is my 197th post.  I asked for a camera last year for my birthday because I had this idea about blogging about things outside my window — especially the big boats.  But by the time I got started that idea had gone by the wayside and you couldn’t shut me up with all the things I wanted to talk about!  (This is not a new problem!)

I’ve had so much fun this year with this blog and have appreciated so much the positive feedback I’ve gotten along the way.  It’s so nice to have people find what you write interesting enough to read from time-to-time. And it’s the very best when you get comments. The surprise for me though, has been how the blog has helped me clarify and focus my life a little bit.  I think that might be what I have liked the most about it.  I love sharing things going on and having this little platform to espouse my likes and dislikes, yah dee yah dee.  But bloggin helps me appreciate my life and live in gratitude more than ever before and that is a huge, unexpected gift. By knowing that I have a blog to keep up, I have become more aware of what’s happening and what I think about and I’ve tried to capture that in what I share and post. I have this rich, incredible life — and so do you!  We all do. Blogging helps me revel in mine – much like I’m sure journaling does for many people just not in such a public way. 

This little blog also helps me to “capture” my life in a new way.  I feel like everything is going by too fast anymore and I’ve “lost” whole decades of my life because I haven’t been paying enough attention.  Blogging lets me feel like I have just a tiny bit of control on it.  I have to pay more attention and I have to slow down at least long enough to report on it here. Plus, it gives me a great journal to look back on easily.

I think this outlet has helped me be a little more “courageous” as well.  There are times I have chose to post things I might not have talked about before.  I feel a little more open, a little braver.  Mostly I feel grateful and more humble than I have in the past. It’s just a real good thing. It takes time but I recommend it. 

So, thank you, my 11 followers and my occasional readers.  You can’t know how much you all enrich my life. And thank you especially to my first follower, my one and only for several months in the beginning, my sister Lori who encouraged me with her kind words. Now that I’ve gotten started, there’s no shutting me up!