Blogging Anniversary

This week I am celebrating 9 years of blogging. 

In late 2008 I shattered my left shoulder in a really bad fall. The day after my accident, I had surgery for shoulder replacement. My doctor told me he had put me back together as best he could, but even after physical therapy, I would have some permanent loss in range of motion. The good news was that it was my left shoulder (I'm right-handed), and I taught myself to style my hair in spite of the disability. (smile)

Seriously, a lot of good has come my way since that tough experience. Quilting had been my primary hobby for many years before the accident, but that was curtailed for a while.  I needed another creative outlet. 

One of my nieces had begun a blog.  I decided to look into blogging and loved it immediately. I've been writing in diaries, journals, and coming up with an occasional short story since I was a schoolgirl, and I love to type, so starting a blog was a natural for me.

Over the years I've struggled to settle on what 'my voice' should be, what I should be writing, how often, and who would be my audience.

I still wonder about those things, these nine years later. But for the most part, I've just settled into being "me," writing pretty much the same way that I speak, and leaving it at that. 

Blogging, for me, is of therapeutic value, a means of creative expression, aids my spiritual growth, and helps me to keep track of memories. 

While I share a lot of my opinions, I don't use the blog as a means of airing my anger or serious complaints. Nobody wants to read that kind of stuff. 

I want my writing to be informational, light-hearted, friendly and above all, encouraging and worth my readers' time. I want my blog to be a safe place on the internet.

Bloggers can advertise or sell products, but I choose to not do either of those. I did have ads on my blog several years ago, but quickly realized that was not for me. I blog for the fun of it, as a hobby, not to make money.

This graphic says it pretty well for me. I can't tell you how many times I begin to write one thing and while I'm trying to get it spelled out, the article goes in an entirely different direction!

Then there is this:

There is a lot to be said for being able to communicate without someone interrupting.

My blog has changed names many times. Last year when we moved from Colorado, I changed the name of this blog from "The Brown Bungalow" (describing our house) to the current "Sweet Tea and Sandals" (more appropriate for our current location in Florida).

With the blog titles, there have been a lot of designs for the headers. Designing the blog headers myself has grown from a headache to delight over the years. I've tried using blog templates and headers made by others but found creating my own gave the most satisfaction. I use The Print Shop 2 on my MacBook Pro to make the designs, sometimes using my own photography, free Google images, and sometimes a combination of both.

I have dug into my files to share just a few of my various blog headers. My long-time readers will remember some of them. As you scroll down,  you will see how I have tried different themes (home, food, relationships).

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My first blog used pseudonyms to protect the privacy of my subjects. I still do that much of the time. Beloved is my husband, Surfer Girl is my daughter, the Lil Red-Haired Girl is one of my daughters-in-law, the Cook on Fifth Street is my mother, etcetera. I enjoy the whimsey of that. Web Designer (one of my sons) has long used his own cute names for those closest to him, so he has been my inspiration with that.

I used to superimpose sunglasses or large hats on the photos, also in an effort to protect privacy. I don't do that any more but will take discretionary care with camera angles during the picture-taking process when it seems a good idea. 

Over the years I've made some really sweet friends via blogging. They will never know how their blog posts and comments have lifted me up, taught me a useful thing or two, and just in general brightened my day. Those of us with like faith tend to gravitate toward each other, so I also have a network of friends I know I can count on to pray with me in stressful times.

Have you ever thought about writing a blog? 

There are many blogging platforms from which to choose, some free and some with a fee. Mine is free.  If you want to know more about creating your own blog, just Google "how to start a blog."