12.10.2009

happy blogiversary

that's right people, one year ago today we created this blog. it started out as a way to let people know what was going on with the pregnancy in more detail than facebook allows and to have a place to record our thoughts about impending parenthood. one year later and 128 posts later and the blog has become...something else. something a little more than just a baby news blog.
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just what it is now is a question i have been wrestling with. at first this was almost entire for us and our families. then it was for judah. then we got more and more people who liked to read it and it's sometimes for them now too.
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i remember when i decided that i wanted to do a post every day. at first it was stressful and felt like a weight hanging over my head of just another to-do list item, and i almost quit entirely. after a week or two of pushing through i noticed that i was really enjoying it, even if it was just a lazy picture post. it's like if i can get even one memory, anecdote, gripe or idea into the blog, then i have successfully expunged it from my mental inbox and made more room for sanity. it's a digital pensieve (harry potter ref.)
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i have had several charitable--if delusional-- souls tell me that they really like the blog and that i have a strong "voice" and that i should really push to get it "out there" more and that i could be a famous mommyblogger (gird up your loins). while i truly don't think this will/could ever happen since i don't have any wisdom to impart or any real writing skills to even fake wisdom with, i have thought about direction. there are definitely ways of networking a blog hardcore so that you get a ton of followers and readership very fast (mainly using twitter and following a bunch of other random people's blogs from what i can tell). i don't want to prostitute putapuredukes out to the world just to get more hits. but i do want the blog to mean something to someone.
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so here we are. i do this lots for me, but i also LOVE getting feedback and eliciting some kind of response (even if its, "shut up, woman!"). i can tell how good or provocative or stimulating a post is by how many hits i get on the day i post it (google analytics rocks) but comments are really my benchmark for whether a post that means something to someone. i know i never leave a comment on someone's blog just to be nice; they have to have something in there that moves me beyond the lazy comfort of anonymity. now all you shadow-lurkers out there who never comment and don't follow publicly, shame on you, you don't get to complain about what i write because you don't give me feedback.
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so i look at the posts that have the most comments and they seem to be the ones in which i vomit up my jumbled thoughts about real, sometimes hard stuff. obviously those are going to be more engaging to a reader than a picture of judah, but it makes me wonder. this blog is going through an awkward teenage phase of "who am i?." as the main writer (did you notice how jesse disappeared around the 3rd trimester?) i can honestly say i love writing about anything from judah's first apricots to considering divorce in year one of marriage to jesus and evolution (that's right, that post is SO coming) so i'm up for everything.
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so i guess i would love to know what you like about this place? favorite posts? topics? wish there was more/less of something? post ideas?
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leave me a comment if you're feeling bold. don't worry, i am not going to start pandering and jumping through hoops just to make everyone happy or sellout completely. however i do have side bangs now because the mob spoke loudly and demanded them, so...
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i am pretty much in love with every person who takes the time to read about our little family. i am a girl and am therefore insecure so your little picture under "followers," or your comment or even just the occasional drop-in really means a lot to me and makes me feel a tiny bit better about myself and what i am putting out into the world.

9 comments:

  1. oh goodie...i get to be the first one to comment. i like pretty much everything you do. i love pictures the most, but i also really like when you just talk about what you're up to from day to day (since we live far away and never see y'all), whenever you go on little adventures (like camping out for labor day...was it labor day?), and when you talk about what you've been wrestling with in your head, b/c most of the time, i've been doing the same!! oh. and your photo captions are complete entertainment all on their own...love them!

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  2. In November I participated in the National Novel Writing Month. Your initial More than Just Surviving post inspired my book. I enjoy hearing how you are making a life for yourselves and not just letting it happen. I think there is a trend toward making the most of what we have nowdays. Your blog is not the usual gripes of how life has done you wrong or someone was mean to you...you offer something much more. Keep it up. You inpspire in ways you don't even realize.

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  3. Since I get to participate in most of the adventures that you write about and take pictures of, I really enjoy getting your thoughts on just about any topic because you have a very unique and poignant perspective on life. I think you approach most topics with a level of honesty and integrity that is hard to find. Plus I agree with Merran, I'd read a blog that was solely you commenting on pictures.

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  4. I just told someone yesterday that I have a friend that will soon be a 'famous' mommy blogger...I have told you over and over you have the chops for it. My fave posts are the ones where you are raw and honest about your marriage and motherhood...I will read you til the day I die :)

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  5. I love your blog! I really appreciate your writing style. You are so creative and have the funniest ways of describing things. I love it! My very favorite thing about your blog is how REAL you are. You're not trying to come across as perfect and having it all together and I love that. I also really, really enjoy hearing about the crafty projects you attempt and the recipes you try! Please keep blogging...I will be a faithful "follower"!

    Jennifer

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  6. Dearest keight... I read your posts aloud to nate every night before bed... I swear I do! And we laugh so much and sometimes it brings up great conversation! We also have taken on your idea of a book...an adventure book of our own dreams! I LOVE that you post daily, makes me feel like I'm close to y'all and that maybe I will know judah after all! We especially love your captions! Every now and then Nate says, "pantless ice fisherman" outloud and laughs so hard! I adore you and appreciate your honesty, your vocabulary, your intelligence, you love for Jesus, life and family :) keep it up girl! *3 snaps in a Z formation* love! alicia

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  7. what...you inspired a novel. you are my hero.

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  8. I love the posts where you "vomit"... since I haven't really seen you in 15 years it's really fun to see who you are these days. And, I'm in no way surprised at how funny and creative you are. It's a trait you've had since childhood... You are still one of the funniest people I have ever met. And I love that we happen to read some of the same blogs... Bring the Rain is a daily indulgence around here.

    I also really appreciate your take on Christian blogging. So many bloggers that are Christian make me want to retch... they're cheesy, cliche, impractical, closed minded, and in my humble opinion, not very Christ-like. They all sound the same- I can't see their actual journey in life because they've gotten caught up in what they think a Christian looks like. Your ability to communicate your love for your family and your attempt to be a Godly mother and wife is so refreshing- absolutely love it.

    And yes, you're incredibly inspiring. You make me want to write more. I used to write all of the time an even had a story published in college. Where the hell did that go??? Unlike you, I'm scared to write so honestly in such a public space. And you can tell by how stupid and generic our blog is. It's an embarrassment.

    So KEEP WRITING and maybe I'll get my act together someday... I think I might actually start my own "Put Up Your Dukes" challenge and commit to blogging everyday for 30 days.

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  9. I'm getting caught up on my blog reading and wanted to offer my two cents. I love your blog, the randomness, the way you write, the honesty and all the laughs! You share your soul and it is beautiful. Keep it up!

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