Tuesday

A Parallel World

The blog world fascinates me.


Pretty much because less than a year ago, I didn't even know it existed

I mean, I'd heard of blogs, but I assumed they were mainly for business' or for sharing photos of your kids to extended family members.

I didn't know there were mom blogs.  I didn't know there were giveaways.  I didn't know you could subscribe, leave comments and meet interesting people.

I certainly didn't know that I would cry and pray for people I'd never met or laughed until I peed.

Oh, I lie about the pee part.  

Sort of.

I didn't know I would be so moved by others circumstances, that it would make my problems, well, funny, in comparison.  

I didn't know my perspective would change.

The blog world is an amazing place. But, sometimes I feel a little funny telling people in real life about it. Because their reaction is similar to the one I had. "Oh."

And then I get that strange look.

And I want to say, "Hey, you make think it's weird, but I know at least 2 people in the bloggy world, who think I'm a big deal."  

That makes me feel better.  In my head.

I literally stumbled into the blogosphere and it took me months to sort out the basics.  

How did you enter this parallel world?  Did you read blogs and then decide to start one? Were you invited or did you stumble?  Or did you start one like me and then discover you weren't the only mom blog out there?  (I know that sounds insanely vain, but I thought I was on to something! I was that naive!)  Do people in your real life know you blog and read it?  

Sometimes I read something so touching, I tell my mom or a friend.  And they are like, "who?" I'm like, "Oh, a friend, I've never met.  She doesn't know me either.  But we are like this (and I cross my fingers to indicate closeness)!

Am I nuts?

Don't answer that.

But I'd love to hear how you entered this parallel world.

I made this post a part of the Blog Train

104 comments:

Carolina Mama said...

Clueless, kicking, screaming... for a specific purpose, time. Then I like it... ;) Yes, I refer to all of my daily reads as "my friends." And people do not undersand and think it strange.

So I quit saying my blogging 'friend' and just say " a friend of mine...."

non-bloggers do not read bloggers ;)
it's okay.

Kristin said...

Hi there,
Love your blog! Funny, cuz I've told my friends for a long time that my family is one of "those" families - usually they don't get it, but you know what I'm talking about! :)(I have a toddler that drinks coffee and chews gum......)
Reading my friend Janels blog inspired me, and I started my own just to have a reason to get some of my thoughts down - however deep or shallow they may be!

Sophie said...

Love the Parallel Universe...and your comment to your Mommy Friends...yes, we build bloggy relationships that are that (cross the fingers) close!

Takin' time to smell the flowers! said...

I agree blogging is so funny! I feel the exact same way. I totally stumbled into the blogging realm. I had no intentions of meeting anyone or especially feeling like these "bloggers" could be my friends. I've been telling my mom stories lately about all the amazing women that I've met, my new friends, and I get the "oh" look, but in a sweet way because she's my mom. I find it so incredible that I have found so many gals that have a similar story to my own, kindred spirits. I love it!

Anonymous said...

Ok, seriously, I don't think I can confine that answer to this comment box.
But I'll try.
I started a geocities web site when my oldest was born to keep family up to speed. It was a lot like blogging. But not. Years later I started hearing about blogs and found out my pastor had one. I eventually got curious enough to check it out and then brave enough to leave a comment. Then my sister in law got a Yahoo 360 blog and invited me. I tried my hand at that for a while until I knew that blogging really was for me and I wanted to do more (because Yahoo 360 blogs aren't the same) so I ditched the yahoo blog and began Bringing Good Home. At first I mostly read my friend's blogs until Katie at Boasting In My Weakness introduced me to Laura the Org Junkie through MPM and it all just took off from there!
Like you, I get seriously caught up in other people's lives. I laugh, I cry, etc. My friends and family (even the few who read my blog) look at me like I'm nuts when I share something one of my "bloggy friends" just went through.
So if you're nuts... then I am too. We're a pair of nuts from the same nut tree.

Anonymous said...

Oh, by the way, I meant to tell you that I tagged you! http://tinyurl.com/5ar2jr

Anonymous said...

It was really by accident, I found a family members blog and decided to try it out for myself. After i got my first comment I got hooked and now its like im on crack haha

Alicia said...

I had just discovered Stumbleupon, and decided I would rate one of my favorite web sites, when lo and behold, Mrs. Fussypants had already discovered and thumbs-upped it! I had to find out who this Mrs. Fussypants was, because it's so rare that I find people who like the same things I do. I found her blog after reading her profile on SU, and my stalking career had begun. Eventually, I just had to join the blogging club, because don'tcha know, everybody's doing it! I got enough of the funny looks that I don't talk to non-bloggers about blogging anymore. This really is a parallel universe, and it's full of friends I can really relate to! I love mommy-bloggers!

canadacole said...

GREAT question! I know that strange look oh too well! LOL!
I'm a scrapbooker, and I just kind of stumbled blindly into the world of scrapbooking blogs. After reading for a while and missing one two many contests, I decided to start my own blog so I could join in. Somewhere along the way I found the amazing world of mommybloggers and somehow rarely post about scrapbooking over on my blog. Life's so funny sometimes.
(P.S. I'm here from Kelsey's blog train)

Anonymous said...

I started reading blogs and then after a couple of months I started my own. The rest is history. I will celebrate a year of blogging in a couple of weeks.

Kate said...

I'm a total closet blogger...well, more like a 'late at night when the rest of the house is asleep with my feet up on the couch blogger.' Nobody knows. Well, now you do...and whoever comments after me. But noone in "real" life knows.
I'm not a writer who couldn't get published (obviously heh) or someone looking to journal. I had heard of mom blogs and browsed a few, laughed and CRIED a lot, added so many to my favorites list my 7yr old wanted to know where all his game pages were because he had to scroll down so far, that I made my own folder. I had to sign up to comment to some of the amazing moms I wanted to let know I was out there, and decided to give it a go.
Yours is one of the first I encountered. I think because you commented on so many blogs that I was reading at the time, I thought who is THAT woman and why is she stalking the same people as me??!?
Anyhow, I'm glad to call some of you friend and hope to come outta the closet (off the couch) soon... maybe... for now though, I'm just enjoying this little indulgence called blogging for myself and have a serious addiction to receiving comments!! :o) ps. sorry for writing a novel!

Scarlet O'Kara said...

As I read this post, it was like the words inside my head were finally down on paper. August 27th will be one year since I started my blog...

I really enjoy reading other blogs, getting to know people...but my husband cannot understand why I am so attached to complete strangers...and my family & friends do give me a strange look when I talk about another blogger's troubles...so like the rest of the bloggers...I just keep it to myself...and refer to them as friend.

Welcome aboard the Blog Train. So very glad that I found you.

Tabitha said...

ooo. A brave friend started one a while back and I love to write so I started one, too. It's been a year now for me and now I have 5-plus blogs!! :) It is fun to get a glimpse into other people's lives--I learn a lot and often have those "Wow, it's not just me!" moments!! :)
BTW, I'm having a card giveaway on my Roots & Wings blog--hop on over to enter if ya want! :)
-Tabitha
www.proudgrits.blogspot.com

Crayl said...

A few years ago my daughters wanted to sign up for this new thing called "MySpace" , so I had to check it out, and sign up myself, and get all my friends on there as well, and learned the blogging way...a couple of my friends made the jump well before me, I only recently moved into this territory out in the big world of blogging...and I love it, once I got a blogreader I was adding subscriptions like crazy, love reading tidbits, love knowing there are others like me...AND YES, I totally refer to you as a friend. I have tried to explain, but then get "the look". So I either say this person I know, or "Someone I read about"

Forgetfulone said...

Nonbloggers just don't get it! I started blogging as a way to express myself and a way to keep in touch with a friend who moved to South Carolina. Here I am 2 1/2 years later, much more involved, and lovin' it!

Storytellin' Mama said...

I entered a mother's day story post on Shine from yahoo back in April and that is how I fell cluelessly into the blogosphere.

It has been an amazing journey in four and a half short months and I too feel like this whole new amazing universe has opened up to me.

I have also laughed and cried and it has stretched me in so many ways.

A great new hobby and more- alternative lifestyle??

Love reading your blog!!

Melissa said...

I got pulled in through the digital scrapping forums - I'm hooked now.

Anonymous said...

I used to write little stories down that I wanted to remember...little things that happened around here. Then I started reading some blogs, and loved it! I thought rather than using Word to write down my thoughts, I could have a blog. So it began like that.

Our families don't know about the blog, mainly because of one family member that I think would gossip too much about it/us. My friends are slowly finding out, and they do read it.

It's only been about 7 months of blogging for me, but I love it.

Stef Layton said...

I started because a friend blogged - and we have a lot of family across the states, I thought it'd be great to just post some pictures for them. I don't think they even read as much as I thought they would - it's "strangers" that seem to think I'm funnier than I am and enjoy reading our everyday stuff. ;p

But I've made some neat friendships - and even meet some other moms close in the area. "blind dates" I call 'em.

Lori said...

I was introduced to the blogging world by my sister and a close friend who had very specific reasons for blogging. I thought it was cool, but didn't think I had anything to blog about. Then I stumbled into the mom dimension of the the blog world.

I have been so blessed by women (like you) who have been so transparent in sharing their experiences. Not to mention the fact there are a bunch of really funny women out there (like you)!

Blogging has been great therapy for me (and it's FREE) and has reawakened my love of writing - something I thought had died a long time ago.

Misty said...

I stumbled into blogging through some friends. I read a few blogs and was hooked. I had to participate not just for me but for the sake of my family! (or so I told myself) People tell me all the time, "You've got to write this stuff down". My blog is my attempt to keep a record of all this madness so that some day I can show my kids, this is what drove mom completely crazy.

Wonderful World of Weiners said...

Needed a way to keep grounded and connected when Shmoops decided to enlist in the military. Didn't know a damn thing about blogging at the time - started a blog and hoped for the best. I look back now and see days when I KNOW my mom was the only one reading it!

It's grown and changed over this last year but I love it just the same.

Hallie :)

Happy Mommy said...

About 5 years ago my former pastor had a blog, I used to read everyday. Over the next few years I really didn't have any interest in blogs or even think I could blog.
Just a little over a year ago I started my blog, it's very funny, to be honest a very distant relative had started a blog and all my family was like "oh such and such has a WEB site all about their kids. I was jealous.... I checked it out and it was a blog and so I thought if THEY can do it so can I. And Happy Mommy was born.
I too mention other people in the blogs I read and yes people think it's kind of silly, but I love it.

me said...

hi there. i started blogging for myself only. (that's still why i blog) it gives me an avenue to vent. when my sisters found out that i was blogging, i felt like i had to go public...so they could read what i was writing about life. surprisingly, it has turned into a way for me to meet amazing people.

i have a place where i feel validated no matter what is going on in my life. i have a place to learn about the struggles and celebrations of all kinds of women and families. and, like you, i never knew i could be so attached to people i have never met in person. i am moved to tears...and prayers by reading about the lives of people i will never meet. i get sucked in really easily. i have to cut myself off sometimes.


i love your blog, by the way...it hits close to home.

have a great day!

Phyllis said...

A friend started a blog when she & her hubby were going abroad. I had started one then, a personal diary of sorts, but it fell by the wayside as the weeks passed by. Fast-forward two years later, and I decided to give it a shot once again. Again, I started out as a personal diary of sorts. After blogging for a couple of months, I decided to share it with friends and family members (after deleting/editing certain private posts!). I'm slowly working my way around to gathering new readers. It's quite cool how my blog has evolved!

Mama Smurf said...

I started blogging as a way to journal my journey to my first marathon. But had NO idea that I could venture outside of my little blog and meet other people. It was strictly a journal for my own purposes. Then when I finished the marathon I decided to start a family journal blog...still had no idea I could meet other mommy bloggers. It wasn't until maybe February or March of this year that someone left me a comment and I was like "huh?". I'm a slow learner.

Anonymous said...

OH, the otherworldly Blogosphere! I mentioned in my CWO Blog Spotlight Interview that my friend, Laura (ihavetobelieve.wordpress.com), mentioned to me that since I am an aspiring writer and LONG to write ('course, a paycheck would be NICE), I should consider blogging.

Like you, I began reading, reading, reading. Laura tipped me off to a couple of blogs. Before long, I realized that some of "my favorites" just happened to be the favorites of lots of others.

I've only been blogging for about four months. But my life has indeed changed! I met you! ;) Actually, I have enjoyed corresponding with so many different women. Like you, most of the women on the blogs I read are Christians. God is just AWESOME!

It is truly a support system unlike I had ever imagined. Sure, it's entertaining. And it's an outlet for writing. Will it open doors that I hope and long for? I don't know. But I've come to realize in this very short time that if Christ can use me in my little blog, I am content. Not to stop there....but at the very, very least...."not despise small beginning."

You are an inspiration. The very fact that you have been blogging for only about a year....and have such a huge following, is inspiring.

I have heard and agree that it cannot take the place of community. It shouldn't. BUT...in today's world, it is a unique, yet profound way of connecting and even growing with other Christian women.

I'm so comfortable here...namely, at your blog, that I feel as though I've just visited you at your home.

Thanks for always asking those questions and including us....
AND for making us smile, HUGE, HUGE SMILES>>>>

Rena

The Apron Queen said...

I originally blogged to promote my store. Then I discovered this whole new world out there in Blog Land. I find myself doing the same thing. Telling stories about my bloggy friends. Feeling silly when I tell non-bloggers about my blog. They have NO idea what they are missing! I have so much fun blogging. It is such a creative outlet. And just when I think I'm done changing stuff around, I realize there's still a better way to do it. I'm such a pack rat & creator of clutter. And it was showing in my blog and my store. So, today's tackle was I'm trying de-clutter my store & blog. Pop over for a look.

Confessions of an Apron Queen

The Fritz Facts said...

I love the new picture on the bottom!! She is so cute.

I stumbled/fell two years ago. It was fumbled for a while, but then I found my way (I think at least).

happyathome said...

I am there with ya, this is all new to me but feels like I have been doing it forever and made a lot of new friends! I wish I had done this earlier! Thanks for sharing!

Mandy said...

You've done it again! You have put into words MY feelings! I started my blog to keep in touch with family & friends after we moved away. Then I came across a blog by reading about her in a magazine and then from her blog I just kept finding all these other women whom I enjoyed reading! It's been so good and fun! And I too have just started refering to ya'll as "my friends...". It's too complicated to explain to a non-blogger about how I can be friends when I don't know where she lives, and have never met, yet I know that her daughter has superglued her lips shut and that she' been to the er so many times! Yeah...it makes for some interesting conversations...but it's a good world to be involved in.

Muthering Heights said...

I actually got started with blogging after my sister-in-law (Life At the Circus) was blogging for a month or so. It just looked like so much fun!

I found your blog through hers...the first post I ever read was the one in which your kids found pee on the wall with a CSI kit from a yard sale...I was pretty much hooked at that point!

Anonymous said...

My husband introduced me to blogging. He still doesn't always understand "Mommy Blogs", though. He does enjoy that we have a hobby to share. It has been easier to talk about it since some of my family has started reading my blog. It took them a while to come around. I feel like I know to many of the bloggers I read and relate to!

Unknown said...

I took a class about blogging at a writer's conference last year because I was curious. After that, I came home and started a blog within a day or two.

I had never even read a blog!

Kristi said...

Peer pressure. Church girls can be SO pushy. So glad I caved!

Kim @ Homesteader's Heart said...

Okay this may seem funny but the first time I ever heard about blogging was in the movie "The Perfect Man". She was talking about bloggers and her blog and in that glimpse of what she was doing, I was intrigued. Hmm I said, a whole new world to explore out there. People that need to meet me and I them. And so started the saga I call my alter ego lol. I love blogging. It's such a release and I have met some really great people on here as well. I laugh, I cry, I even get a bit scared lol. It's all good.
Blessings,
Kim

Colleen - Mommy Always Wins said...

For me it was like a bloggie snowball! I got an email from a co-worker saying, "You HAVE to read this!" It was Dawn's eBay post. Somehow, from there, I found her blog. From there, I slowly began to find other bloggers. I still remember the first one or two I found from there, then it was like freakin' madness! I started my own blog in Feb of this year (WOW - has it been six months?!?) and wouldn't give it up unless you told me my own children would melt if I didn't. Like you, I've found many great blog friends, and have trouble explaining them to my real-life ones. Some of my real-life friends read my blog, but I think when they entered my recent giveaway and saw 500 other bloggers entered they changed their tune just a bit!

Moriah @ Please Pass the Salt said...

Yep, I read first. We had moved far, far away, so I started mine so it'd be easy for our friends and family to keep in touch with us.

We moved back home, still blogging. Too involved now, ha.

Also, I have TONS of family members and friends that read that don't blog. So, it's not necessarily true that non-bloggers don't "get" it.

Anonymous said...

I'm forced to blog at gunpoint. No, really.
Okay. I began blogging about 4 years ago at the suggestion of a friend. We were simplifying our lifestyle in drastic and unusual ways and she said everyone who knew us would love to share it with us. That birthed a blog that friends and family read.
Then, more and more I wanted to write about stuff that just didn't fit on a blog that family and church friends read. So I started a personal one.
Along the way I stumbled into the world of mom blogs... and I am hooked.
I know all about the weird looks from irl people. Ha.
Great post.

Unknown said...

I didn't know much about blogging when I started about 7 months ago. I have always liked writing and have kept a journal for about 10 years. Once I started blogging it became my journal and now I am addicted!

Anonymous said...

I always enjoy reading the blongs and I don't share much about my blogging in real life because I do it for me. That makes it special and personal!

Suzie said...

I was preggers and going for my dissertation defense and I googled dissertation and pregnancy and found a blog which I still read. I just learned about subscritions yesterday. Its very cool.

Suzie said...

by the way you are totally a big deal 41 comments wow!

Milehimama @ Mama Says said...

A couple of years ago, Hugh Hewitt wrote the book, "Blog" and our local Denver radio promised free movie tickets to anyone with a blog who would review the movie. I got hooked up with a publicity company who would give me free movie tickets (before they were released, Press Pass!).

Then my husband went out of town for four months, and then we moved to another state where I knew NO ONE. I had to do something!

Lisa said...

A friend of mine in Texas started one, don't know how or why she did, but she invited me to hers. I read hers for quite awhile and thought I would like to try it. A way to stay connected to people I had left behind since my retirement from police work and then moving across the state to our new home. I did it mainly to just have fun and something to fill my time. Then I remember the first time I got a comment from someone I didn't know. I was on top of the world. Then I figured out I could find other people and read theirs as well. Oh the world opened up and the heavens started singing. No, I don't have tons of readers, but I have met and made some new friends that I would not have ever known if it were not for this internet world. The world is really very small, and people are the same everywhere, and I love meeting them all and hearing their story. Everyone has a story, and now with blogging even I can know their story! Oh I love it.
But the inspiration and motivation from others serves such a purpose in our lives, it is a basic need we all have. That is recognition for who we are. Validation. I am thankful we can come to your site, be entertained, be humbled, and be fed, you truly serve a purpose.

Grateful for Grace said...

My mom had been diagnosed with ALS, we were starting a new summer camp AND we were pregnant with our 6th baby (people were scared/worried/freaked out because it was going to be my 6th c-section)... I started the blog as an "attachment" to our pregnancy. It had good news and encouragement from the dr. to help people not be so freaked out. We send out postcard announcements about our pregnancies due to the lack of kindness we've experienced. So, the blog was a place for them to go to hear things without me having to talk to them and hear their thoughtlessness OR their complete rudeness. I also used it as a place to post updates about my mom without having to send out large group emails. It seemed so much more depressing to send out the emails: Hi, me again with more depressing news. Same thing with starting the camp and the ups & downs involved with it. People were really concerned about us: mom having a terminal disease, me pregnant, and us not knowing where/when we would be moving.
So, my blog came to live. It was an outlet and a form of communication. I liked it because I could also post fun news about our family. Not just sad.

I've enjoyed it tremendously.

I've totally enjoyed finding the parallel universe.

Sincerely Iowa said...

I started out on Blogsome.com, and hated it because the templates were boring.

I moved to Blogger, and have been here for a long time now. I started my blog because a friend of mine did. I didn't tell anyone about it, not even my husband. I gradually started getting readers, simply by leaving comments on other people's blogs.

Now my husband knows about it, a couple family members, and I recently got the courage up to post the link to my blog on my Facebook page. I don't specifically tell people I have a blog, but it's there if they happen to stumble onto it.

I've met so many amazing and wonderful people from all over, these last couple years. it's been amazing!!!

Regular gal said...

I started blogging because when I got married I moved to the States (I'm from Mexico) so I couldn't really talk to a lot of people who weren't in-laws. It gives me a place to vent. My husband thinks its funny that all of my "friends" are mommy bloggers, but I think he's glad I can talk to other women whenever I need it.

Anonymous said...

Great post, as usual! By the way, you are a big deal.

I entered the blogging world, honestly, to make money. However, I have found so much more in than that! Like you I was blown away by the vastness of the blogging world.

I too have made friends that I will never meet face to face but that I care about deeply.

I have started letting people know that I blog but only a few actually have the url.

I am amazed at how much it is therapy for me and how much better I feel about my life and my parenting skills because of others that are "just like me" so to speak.

I am glad you decided to blog. You always inspire and create laughter, both are wonderful talents to share!

Anna said...

I started my own blog before I even knew about the big blog world out there.
At some point, someone linked to notesfromthetrenches, and I was hooked. From there, I found a bunch more, started my bloglines account, and at some point, I was reading more than 40 blogs. I've been cutting down, and now I'm left with about ten of my absolute favorites. (Yes, that's YOU!)
Oh, and now I have THREE blogs, because I'm crazy. One personal blog, one homeschooling blog and the blog linked in my name- the I'm-so-messy-I-want-to-embaress-
myself-in-front-of-the-whole-world blog. HA!

Mechelle said...

I love this post! Why because I totally identify with it... I don't really even remember what got me blogging but I'm pretty sure it was the ladies at a scrap forum I belong to. I have to say I haven't been that great at blogging yet but I do love the "idea" of it.
I'm always saying to my hubby: " I met this lady online and..." ~ He doesn't give me {THE LOOK} Nearly as often anymore. None of my friends have a clue about my duel life... they think the computer is for sending chain e mail and that's about it. None of my friends even understand my business (I'm a digital scrapbook Designer)~ It's really like living two different lives. But I do know one thing for sure The days of being a SAHM have been made so much happier because we've found friends at every corner of the earth and never have lack for someone to "Talk" to.
((hugs)) Mechelle

Kristi said...

Me too! I feel the same way. I've only been blogging for two months and it has become an incredible blessings.

D... said...

I knew my best friend, Bubba's Sis, was blogging. So, when my brother was being deployed for 6 mths, I figured it'd be a fun way to keep in touch with him. I tried to think of silly posts, etc. It worked too. He said the highlight of his day was checking to see if I posted anything new. He's home now, but I made friends & decided to keep blogging.

Unknown said...

I don't remember HOW I started, it was about three years ago, on MSN spaces live. I did that one for two years, and I even one an award from MSN. Not bloggers, but from MSN! But after a while, too many people knew I had one (family). And they would read it. And feelings were getting hurt cause I told the TRUTH, and then I had to watch what I said. I had to be nice, and not say what I meant or felt. So, I deleted that one in a fit of fury. Oh, I lost some GREAT posts I can never get back. But then I started this one, and NO ONE in my family knows about it, and only one friend, who I trust more than anyone else on earth.

I will NEVER tell anyone I know about my blog again. Ever.

MamaHen Em said...

I started a family blog after my sister and her hubby each had one. Then I got braver and started a more open blog, where the family (aside from sis) doesn't read it or know its me. I was resistant at first, but oh, now the obsession!

Unknown said...

I started my blog soon after I started digital scrapbooking, as a way to share my layouts.

Now digi-scrapping is just a tiny part of my blog and of the blogs I read/stalk/follow.

I only know one other blogger "in real life". I love how you describe it as a parallel world - it really is!

Marcy Massura said...

My story- my answer became my post for today. I linked back to you!

http://theglamorouslifeblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/over-at-we-are-that-family.html

Chel's Leaving a Legacy said...

I had never heard of blogs before either. But then less than a year ago I did a google search for (something) and it pulled up an article on Linda's 2nd Cup of Coffee.

Once I read her post about "King James in the Bedroom," and laughed until tears streamed and my sides hurt, I was hooked.

I lurked for a long time until I figured out how they work, and then I decided to start one just last month!

It's been most invigorating. :-)

Anonymous said...

I blogged on my myspace page for awhile without even realizing there were other options. Then my IRL friend Jane (What About Mom) told me about her blog, and I found this whole other world. So I signed up with blogspot, and the rest is history.

Lynn said...

I must admit, I gave a friend THAT look when she first told me about blogging....oh the shame. Months later, I started reading the blogs of two of my friends. I moved to Korea and a friend (who coincidentally doesn't blog) asked me to start one. One day I decided to give it a shot....the comments started coming, and I was hooked!

Anonymous said...

I entered the blog world 2 1/2 years ago because my sister in law who then lived 1/2 the country away from me was starting one, too. I thought it was a great way to keep up with her.

Before I knew it, I had blog friends all over the place. We all started out on Yahoo 360 but then moved when it got bad.

I've made quilts for my blog friends, prayed for them, met them in real life. It's been a world I can't begin to explain to a non-blogger. My husband used to just shake his head, but now he's in on it, too. Well, as far as not thinking I'm crazy when I call people friends :-)

Beachy Mimi said...

My daughter encouraged me to start a blog on my vacation in May. I haven't stopped since. Only a very few people know I blog, and fewer still know my blogsite and name. I like it that way. I love meeting my Parallel Universe Bloggy Friends. I've also learned when you say "blog" to the general public they say, "huh?" and their eyes glaze over. I love it though.

Amy said...

I started blogging when a forum I've long been a member of asked for volunteers to test their new blogging software. I blogged there for a while, then ventured out and decided I'd like to move my blogs to a bigger host, so I did.

I refer to bloggy people just as "friends" unless I'm talking to my husband or one of my friends who also blogs. Anyone else gives me that sympathetic "oh look she has imaginary friends" look. ;)

AGSoccerMom said...

I started after I found out my friend had one. And yes I get the looks, especially when I say hey I heard today on one of the blogs I read...my hubster just laughs. I don't think he has read mine, and yes I gave him the address. Who knows he might be a lurker.

Joy said...

I heard of them as a teenager in highschool. I knew there were even mom blogs out there when I became a blog. I actually entered into this blog-eat-blog world just this past January (so 8 months?).

I saw my sister's blog, read a few on her blogroll, then decided, "WHAT THE HECK? If no one ends up reading it I'll stop."

But I've become an addict. I, too, talk about my blog friends to people IRL and they think I'm nuts. But who cares! I've even sent peoples' blog URLs to our prayer chain or brought them up in church during prayer requests.

I love this little world. And I'm kind of glad not EVERYONE is involved in it. It's like a little club and those who think it is weird are the outsiders, not the other way around. ;-)

Joy said...

Ha ha... I meant when I became a MOM! Though... I'm not too far off from becoming a blog.

I think in blog. I dream in blog. "Can I blog about this?" Taking pictures of everything around me... yeah, totally obsessed!

Wifeof1Momof4 said...

I started for our out of town family and then someone asked me questions about my son's tumor testimony and said I should blog about it.

Since then I continue to blog because of the people I have met and the comments I get that make me know I AM NOT the only one ... and the wonderful opportunities I get to pray for someone else.

Someone emailed me last week and told what a difference I have made for her by saying all the things she wants to shout and my blog was comforting for her. GET OUT .. I didn't even know she was reading because she HAS never commented, ever. She didn't even send this note in comments ..

Lastly, it has been tremendously theraputic for me, so I have no plans of stopping now, because I have been consistent with my journaling of our lives now by internet, than I ever was on paper.

Tales From the Eurovan said...

A friend of mine who has a blog suggested I should start my own. I read for a while and debated whether or not I should give it a try. I checked out blogging for a while reading ones I liked. I just decided last month to give it a shot. Love your blog! Julie

Anonymous said...

After my marriage, I moved four and a half hours away from my entire life. I was MISERABLE except for those few hours a day when my husband wasn't working. So I started spending more time online, discovered fanfiction (something else people who don't read or write it cannot understand), and from there, discovered blogging. I was horribly embarrassed about it for quite a while, and never told anyone, but now, four years later, I practically beg people to read my blog. I'm addicted to comments, and have to restrain myself so I don't post about five times a day. It's such a wonderful way for someone like me, who stays at home all day (and has no car, since we're trying to save up enough money for my husband to go to seminary), to connect with the world at large. And now I've made some great friends across the world!

Genny said...

Your post rang true to me in so many ways, and I'm thankful for all the great women I've met. Like you, I sort of stumbled into blogging by accident...thinking I wanted to create a website for my writing. After talking to a friend who is a web guru, she said, "it sounds more like a blog to me". And that's how it all started. :)

Anonymous said...

I send out e-mails to friends and family once or twice a week with pictures and anecdotes about my kids. My list grew as people asked to be added. Then a friend on our e-mail update list suggested again and again that I blog... insisted really. So I started reading some blogs. I stumbled across yours (as I've told you before) and I was hooked... one of the first posts I read was the super glue one. I felt this instant connection. I started telling my friends about this friend I had in Texas.. "well, she actually doesn't know I exist" as I just read her blog and haven't commented (didn't know then how important commenting was) Shortly after I finally started my own.

I do have some friends and family who read my blog. Those without blogs don't get how important commenting is, I'll have people come up to me at church and say, "I love your blog." Sometimes it is embarrassing as I am willing to lay it all out their for the world whom I never see but to let my pastor see my dirty laundry piled on my couch, that is a different story. It keeps me accountable to being transparent... to not put on airs that I am more together than I am.

I do find myself referring to my blogging friends as real friends and you are right non bloggers don't get it. Thankfully my hubby does. He knows who Kristen at THAT family is.. and he knows a few others.

Blogging has been an outlet I never knew I needed. I have learned a ton about myself.

Sorry for the incredibly long winded comment. But, you asked!

Jerralea said...

I knew what blogs were but hadn't really checked any out until I saw an article in Today's Pentecostal Evangel about them and decided to go look.

I was amazed at what I found. There are lots of women out there like me! Well, sorta like me ...

I became hooked. So, I started blogging as an outlet to write and share pictures. It has become an addiction! Although, sometimes I get so obsessed with reading everybody else's blogs I forget to write in my own.

Another thing -- I really hate to share my computer with my kids now, because I want to be in the blogosphere!

PastormacsAnn said...

So true. So very true.

I started reading blogs when we started the adoption process as a means of getting first-hand information about it. I "met" some amazing people. After reading and reading, my daugther said, "Mom, you should just start you own blog." And so I did. I wanted to write about the process and be helpful to others and also to chronicle our own journey.

I've often thought of quitting since rather than giving me tons to blog about, our adoption journey has sucked the creative juices right out of me and my posting has dwindled down to a pitiful few. Someday it's an effort just to think much less actually write about it.

But what has keep my one foot in this parallel world has been the bloggy "friends" that I have made over the past two years. I would just miss them too much.

Great post, by the way!

k and c's mom said...

I started on Beth Moore's Living Proof website. Hmmm. She says she has a blog...went from there to her daughter, Amanda's blog (Baby Bangs) and looked at her blogroll. Started reading BigMama and BooMama blogs regularly. Thought, this would be a great way to connect with my students' parents (I teach first grade). Decided to do the trial runs in the summer before school started. And here I am! Reading your blog from someone else's Blogroll. Six degrees of separation in all of u.

Anonymous said...

Oh help me please! I started my own website ParentingPink.com about a month ago and decided to add a blog to it to increase visibility and traffic. I had no idea what I was (or am) getting into. Sometimes I feel "in over my head" and other times I'm just so thrilled to connect with other mom bloggers. I've noticed several moms have GREAT looking blog sites - I'm jealous! I need to get ideas on how to make mine look better! LOL. I guess that comes with time. Thanks for the post - it's good to know that we all have to start somewhere in the vast world of blogging!

Anissa Mayhew said...

I blogged for two years before I knew I was blogging. How is that for head-stuck-in-the-dirt? I started blogging when my daughter was diagnosed with cancer and it became a tool for advocacy and therapy and has morphed into a source of joy in my life. I am amazed that people read it (and that is no false humility, I truly am) and because of the gravity of some of the stuff I have to write about, I am equally amazed that people come back.

I adore the genuine compassion and caring of the people in the blogworld.

Julie said...

It all started when I began reading Rocks in my Dryer. I didn't know anything about the blogosphere until then. I don't even know how I found Rocks in my Dryer. Then I started reading a few blogs on her blogroll. I think I found your blog through Works for me Wednesdays...? I don't remember. It was a while ago!
Julie

Anonymous said...

Ok well, I started out on Zanga about three years ago to try and keep up with the kids in our youth group at church (a couple of my own included)and I started "blogging" there. Then I eventually wanted something a little more "grown up" so I moved to wordpress and the rest they say "is history." I've been writing and reading blogs ever since. It's a hobby that my entire family supports. They're some of my "biggest fans". :-)

Patrice said...

I stumbled upon your blog through a series of links, and I had to comment on this post! I am only 18, so most of my friends consider writing a task that is not fun, and certainly could never become a hobby! I stumbled upon the bloggy world by way of google.. I don't even remember what I googled, but one link led to another, then to another, to another.. you know how it goes. That's when I realized I signed up a blog last summer, and never wrote anything on it, so I decided to give it another go! And the rest is history...
Love this post & love your blog.. I'll be back!

Anonymous said...

You crack me up so much, and we are so much alike. I have told you this before, but I LOVE your blog!

I had been blogging on myspace for a little over a year. My husband gave me the idea to start my blog. I was kind of clueless about the whole plethora of mom blogs too, and now I am overwhelmed by how many awesome blogs are out there.

Looking back I have been reading blogs for years, I just didn't know that is what they were really. Now I am subscribed to like 60 blogs in my Google Reader and everything in our lives is a potential blog post!

Niki Jolene said...

I started blogging for family stuff..turns out my extended family is not so techy, so that was a fruitless waste of time.

Then I realized I was spending a whole bunch of time emailing coupons and deals I found to my friends and fellow mamas, and thought..hey what if there was one place I could put them all?

Little did I know...there were tons of moms doin just that already!

:)

Unknown said...

How funny and what a great topic!
This is my first time here and I really like what you write.

I started blogging to keep in touch with family in bulk, and keep a diary for myself of the time my family spent living with and caring for my Grandparents.

It soon turned into an addiction.

The best part is I have made new friends AND have a reference for our family to remember my Grandparents who have both since passed

Amydeanne said...

very few people in my family read my blog.. not sure if any actually, though i do have a few friends in life that tell me they've read it! I'm hoping contests will help bring them out! lol

MamaCta! said...

I've been at this a few months now, and I really didn't know what I was getting into. My friend has a fitness blog and kept telling me I should start my own blog. And the rest is history.

Blogging has helped me realize I have interests and talents that I didn't know I had before.

It has been lots of fun, and I've enjoyed reading your blog!

Mozi Esme said...

Can definitely relate to this! I actually started blogging on MySpace for a few friends and family who lived on the other side of the world, and then realized there was a whole nother world out there that I wanted to be part of. So we migrated to blogger and here we are, part of the fun!

Shanna said...

I've known "this blogging world" was out here, but had no idea what it was about. I didn't know anyone that had one. So, just a few weeks ago, I decided to dive in. I'm so hooked, mostly on following links from one blog to another. I love your blog. Who knew the internet would really get me to realize that I'm not alone and that my three babies are just like everyone else's - even though I swear there are days that they hate me. Thank you for your blog - I cried the first time I droped in.

Anonymous said...

My cousin started a blog to post about her daughter, and I thought, "what a great idea!" So I started one too. Since we live so far from most of our family, it was a good way to share day to day happenings and photos.

While my primary purpose is still to talk about my daughter, The Bean, I've also enjoyed how it's a place for me to share things as well.

It's been a process, but I really enjoy blogging.

Stephanie said...

Hi, I found you on the Blog Train :)

I visited a friend's blog which I also thought was just like a journal for companies and websites. She has a business and therefore she has a blog. I left a comment for her on it and she suggested I start one. Oh! What a novel idea. So I did...that night!

It's a whole new world that I knew NOTHING about! I'm loving it though :)

Crystal said...

I stumbled on it in much the same fashion. My brother had one for years and I thought they were only for the techy geeky computer nuts.

Then someone I learned I could start my own. So I did. But I think the only reason I kept up with it was because a few days later my son Noah was born and needed a heart transplant. So I kept it up to keep family updated and chart his adventure.

A year later, I have met some of the most interesting and wonderful people. One of my best friends I met through a wordless wednesday post and come to find out, she lives 30 minutes away from me.

Now I use my blogs to raise awareness of the need of Organ Donation, brag about my kids, and try to clear my mushy brain of the nonsense I keep trapped in there.

I love blogging.

Anonymous said...

I didn't even know this whole blogging world existed until about 6 months ago. Seriously, I was missing soooooo much. Now my husband is learning to tolerate my bursts of laughter as I sit in front of the computer. He even listened in sympathy when I told him about a blogging "friend" who's father just had a stroke and died a few days later. I was constantly checking the blog for updates and praying for a miracle. All for people I have never met. How amazing is this blog universe.

Anonymous said...

I started out wanting to make a family website and stumbled on to the Wordpress install in my web hosting control panel. It seemed like a neat way to preserve memories and share them with my friends and family and keep a record of things for my kids.

Like you, I then realized the breadth of the "mom blog" world and am daily amazing at the wonderful blogs and the women behind them that I have found and continue to find each day!

The Buntens said...

Oh, Amen to this! My real life friends think I am nuts. I think they also think my blog is somewhere I can just write all about me me me.

well, it is. :) And maybe it was in the beginning when I started a year ago.
BUT I love the community so much!

I am not a fantastic writer but I do enjoy getting things out of my head and journaling a piece of my family's life in this bloggy world.

I can't imagine my day with out reading great blogs like yours and so many others. They are so fun!

Tara @ Feels Like Home said...

I started blogging because my friend Robyn has a blog, and I liked the idea of my stuff being "out there." I keep blogging because it's an outlet and maybe some day it will lead to something.

SimplyAmusingDesigns.com said...

Good night NURSE! You have a lot of commenters...lol.

I thought yahoo blogs were all there was until I sort of "stumbled" onto blogger...then a whole new world of bloggers opened up to me. It was mind-boggling and fantastic all at the same time.

I LOVE blogging - the sense of community that can be created by simply asking a question like you've done and have 95 people respond.

Amazing.

Mamajil said...

I got sucked into my fairly new blogging addiction by reading a friend of mines blog every so often...Then in April when I had baby #10 I discovered the "art" of reading blogs while I nursed the baby...I found that I never seemed to have time to talk on the phone or anything else but nursing is something I was doing every 3 hours so I started blogging to keep family and friends informed of what was going on in our family....I am not sure how many family members ever caught on and read my blog but since April I have met some really great folks and have gotten totally wrapped up in the blogging world..and like you mentioned...I find myself saying something about a bloggy friend and my family will say who??? :)

J'Ollie Primitives said...

It's all Annie Beeze's fault. She sold fabulous primitive doll patterns on her website. She recently sent out an announcement that she was shutting up shop at the website, but to go and check out her new blog! I clicked on the link, clicked on somebody on her blogroll, ended up reading "An American in Norway" 's blog, right when she was in the midst of both her hubby AND her daughter going through some very scary hospital stuff, and I. was. hooked. Still am. Love hearing from other people, love to post a very occasional blog because it's like I can have a conversation with somebody UNINTERRUPTED. LOVE the posts and all of the points of veiw out there. Love to hear others speaking their minds.

Christie O. said...

a little late on the draw on this one -- but this is too funny. i am with you on that. i started blogging after my first child, only because i saw that a friend of mine had posted things on a blog about her cross-country trip. so i thought, oh a blog. hmm. ok so i'll write some stuff and post some picture of the new baby and keep my family updated. then almost immediately, i found "thursday thirteen" and realized there were LOTS of bloggers. and then i found out there were lots of other MOMMY bloggers. then i'd go read other blogs and figure out how to put up things like music on my blog and sitemeters and my blog has kind of taken on a life of its own. and it's funny too because i hear about so many experiences about so many things by reading blogs and i always seem to interject my findings into conversation in the real world. But I have resorted to saying things like "i heard about this parent magazine article..." because when i say, "my friend so-and-so, whose blog i read" sounds ridiculous to anyone other than my husband because they don't know about this bloggy world either!

anyway, i'm glad i found it.

Anonymous said...

I had heard about blogs from a friend of mine when she talked about political blogs but had no idea you could do a personal blog. Then when another friend of mine started a Wordpress blog, I said, "If she can do it, I can do it!" I've been hooked ever since. I've been blogging a year and three months and I have met the most wonderful people I would have never met otherwise. I LOVE it! I hope you don't mind if I post about this one day soon on my blog. hehe I get a lot of ideas from other bloggers!

Anonymous said...

I started blogging a month or so ago. My mom liked it so much I thought I'd give it a try.
Tuffy the chihuahua

Unknown said...

I started out writing my blog because my son was in the Air Force, stationed in England and had met a very nice woman (who is now my daughter in law) and I wanted her to get to know our family before she got to the states. It soon became the story of my day to day life. It keeps my friends and family up to date about where we are, since we live in a travel trailer and go where ever we want to go.

So now I have a daughter in Virginia who is moving to Denver this month; my son and his wife and family in Maryland; a daughter and her family in Georgia, and a step-daughter in Georgia; and friends all over the place.I love blogging, and meeting other bloggers is part of that.

Milissa said...

okay...i have been reading your blog and laughing out loud. Is it okay with you if I list your blog as one of my faovites on my blog?

tori said...

I just found your blog thru the blog frog and am loving it. I love this post because I am new to blogging and feel like I have been muddling through for the last few months just trying to figure it all out...I really wish I could take a class on this or something. Started blogging just to keep my dad updated on our move to a new city but have been having so much fun I just want to keep going...keep up the great blog. I'm adding you to my reading list even though we are at different life stages, your funny stories bring back memories.

justcallmerie said...

I started blogging 3 months ago as a way to remember things and show others how everyday events all go back to Jesus.

I try to be humorous, so many of the blogs I found were so serious. I need to laugh! That's why I was excited to find yours this week.

To be honest, I'm getting bummed, I have the same amount of followers I had when I started. I keep reminding myself who is in charge, but I can't help but wish I had more readers.

As Mama says, "Only time will tell."

Rie
www.justcallmerie.blogspot.com

GLENDA CHILDERS said...

I am new to blogging and found your site through the top 100 Christian women blogs. Congrats on making that list.

I began blogging because I have two adult daughters who love my writing, my stories, by thoughts. (how lucky am I). So I blog for them and any one else who wants to read.

I enjoyed my journey through your blog.