why i blog

When I started this blog back in October of 2011, I wasn't quite sure what I was going to share with you. Sometimes it's hard to determine what is appropriate for the internet and what we should hold dearly to ourselves. We live in a world of social networking and it's only getting worse. Or better. Depending on the way you view social networking.

When you get into facebooking and blogging, your world is constantly revolving around the questions of "Is this worthy of sharing?" or "Oh, I need to get a picture of that so I can write about it later!" Sometimes it sounds ridiculous and I try to picture my grandparents getting involved with social networking. My grandpa passed away before he even knew how to turn on a computer. He never owned a computer. He had good secretaries that did all his computer work for him at work. My grandmother, his wife on the contrary absolutely loved computers and the internet. When the internet first came out, she was the first one with it. I didn't know anyone else at the time who had the internet besides my grandma. She ate it up. She researched and emailed her little heart away in her office before we even knew what email was.

I like to imagine her in the world of Facebook, blogging, Twitter and smart phones. Unfortunately, she passed away long before any of this came into our world. I could see her texting me often. Sharing ideas for my home and the farm. On Facebook, she'd constantly be posting pictures of her grandkids, yours truly and writing articles about anything and everything under the sun on her blog. She didn't hold anything back. I am friends with a lot of my friends' moms and grandmas on Facebook and I think it's a wonderful thing. They're proudly showing off pictures of the grandkids and their latest recipe or project. It's finally their time to shine.

There has been a time or two where I unplugged Facebook. It was cleansing, peaceful and productive but at the same time I felt disconnected from the world. I missed a few parties, birth announcements and other important things because I didn't have Facebook. I think Facebook and the internet have become a normality in our lives. Those who have not joined, will only slip farther between the cracks. It's how we socialize.

Whether you think it's sad or not. There's days where I just want to unplug and delete everything all together. Then, I sit back and think about all the people I am connected to on Facebook that live out of state. Sadly, I would feel like I am disconnected from them if I disconnect from Facebook. Facebook has done wonderful things in my social world but it has also done some harm as well. We have to learn how to use our filters when we write and take pictures. We also have to learn to just block someone from our news feed or even from our account in general if that person is causing harm or making hurtful comments. People just need to stop airing their dirty laundry online.

That is the one problem with social networking. It's so much easier to create a Facebook status or a blog post about someone you're upset with rather than to just go to that person.  Bashing on people is not for the internet. Just because my friend hurt me, her grandma doesn't need to see that. It's that simple. Filter, people. Filter. I guess if you don't want your grandma or mom to see something on the internet, don't share it with ANYONE. I mean, ANYONE. Once it's in cyber space, it's there for all to see. I use to be kind of shy when I blogged. I didn't want any of my friends or family to read it. Then one day, I decided I wanted to blog so those close to me could see my story. I had nothing to hide. I didn't write about bad things. I wanted those who didn't know me, to be inspired from my story and things that I took interest in or busied myself with.

I love my little life here on the farm. I love the silly projects and things I get myself into. I love my friends and my family. I want to share that part of me with others. I've always wanted to write for a magazine. Or write a book. I've never considered myself to be an expert at anything and I never will but you don't know until you try. This blog has inspired me to try new things and to share things with people I never thought I would. It's kind of like having my own magazine. I get to be the editor, the writer, the designer, the photographer and the director. It's awesome. I can choose to turn it into a monetary blog or a hobby blog. I can write to just write or I can share projects and tutorials.

There are all kinds of blogs out there. There are networks that join similar blogs together. There are even blogging conventions of all kinds. I think the world of blogging is one of the coolest things I've seen. It's hard to explain what a blog is to someone who's never turned on a computer. It can be a journal, a business, a portfolio, a continuing novel. It's whatever you want it to be.

That satisfaction you get from clicking "publish" after hours of composing, editing and uploading pictures just for one post is extremely rewarding. People don't realize the amount of time and planning that go into a post. There are days, like today, where you just turn on the computer and you write. Your heart just feels like sharing.

When I was in 7th grade. 7th grade, one winter I taught myself how to code an entire website with html. Hyper text markup language. Most of you don't know what any of that is. I designed a website on a Geocities (now hosted by Yahoo) server from scratch called Dandelions in the Wind. I really don't know what was on it other than "Hi, my name is Kelly. I am in 7th grade. I play sports and ride horses or four wheelers. I love Beanie Babies, too." It took me hours. Weeks. Months. To perfect this silly little website only I knew existed. My address was crazy long, too. That's just how it was back then. Now, you don't even need HTML to start up a website. There are so many different plug and go options that make it so much easier for the less tech savvy to social network or start up a blog.

I am not quite sure what happened to Dandelions in the Wind. I think I deleted it because no one "surfed" to it and none of my friends even had the internet yet. I tried doing a Google search on it. No luck. I don't remember what my Yahoo logins are, either. I am sure the account has been long deleted.

It's so different having a blog or a website now. Even just a little Facebook page/group. Everyone's online. Well, almost. My husband's grandma has the internet but she doesn't social network. You can create anything you want and between Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. you have an entire network to share with. They share with their friends. Their friends share with their friend's friends and so forth.

It really is all crazy. Sometimes I ask myself if I am crazy for doing this. It makes me happy, though. I guess as long as something makes you happy, you're not crazy for doing it. Except for drugs. If those make you happy, STOP. STOP NOW. Find something else that makes you happy. You are crazy if you do drugs. Maybe I need to rephrase the above quote. Anyways, you catch my drift.

My best friend who I went to Frankenmuth with, is moving 12 hours away next week. It brought tears to my eyes this morning thinking about it. No more weekly dinner dates. No more shopping sprees to desperately find the perfect pair of jeans. No more frog hunting. It just makes me sad. However, I am happy for her. She is pursuing an opportunity she has always wanted to do and has been talking about for a long time. But you know, with cell phones and social networking, she's only a finger tip away. We can still chat on HeyTell every morning. That won't change. We can send each other pictures with the click of a button. Phone calls. Emails. There are no excuses to not stay in touch with someone far away.

I have so many friends and family that I hold so close to my heart who live far away. Sometimes it's hard but then I sit back and think about how lucky we are to have social networking. I never would have connected with my grandma's best friend, Miss Mary B. in Georgia without Facebook. I wouldn't be able to watch my nieces and nephew in Kansas grow or things happening on their ranch if my sister and brother in law didn't post things on Facebook. My sister in law, almost 20 hours away has become one of my closest friends thanks to the abilities of being able to keep in touch. I know that she too, is just a finger tip away.

There's so many opportunities out there to get in touch. Don't be afraid and remember, if you don't like what you see, delete and move on. It's that simple. If my blog posts bother you and you think they're a waste of my time, please just move on. And don't come back. I know that sounds harsh, but this is for me and the people who want to keep reading. It's hard to come up with interesting content and to put yourself out there. You'll never be found unless you do.

This is kind of like the American Idol opportunity for those who like to write, photograph and create. There's so much more I want to share, it will just come with time. For my 50th post anniversary, I would like to come up with something special, but I am not sure what that is yet. It's coming up, though. Some bloggers measure their anniversary in years but I think it's better to do posts. Not everyone can post everyday or even week. Some post 10 times a day. Regardless, each post is unique and takes time to create whether it took you a year to generate 300 posts or 5 years. It all takes the same amount of time.

It all takes time, just like anything else. We spend time on what's most important to us.

This is important to me.