Why I Blog

One of my blogging friends, Lindsay, is going to be teaching a mini-class on how to start a blog. She asked followers of her blog to list the reasons they have a personal blog, so here is my list!

1. I love being able to share life with friends and family who are far away.

2. I enjoy having a chronicle of my life, something to capture my memories and feelings so I can return periodically and reflect.

3. It is a great place for me to organize some of my hobbies. For me, I LOVE crafts, sewing, junking and re-purposing. Through my blog I am able to post projects I enjoy so I can return to them when I have time. This has the double benefit of keeping my husband happy since I don't have random project ideas scribbled on bits of paper all over our house!

4. The blog provides a wonderful organization tool to keep up with friends and family who blog. You can follow other blogs and then when you log in to Blogger, it will show their updates on your "Dashboard." It is a quick and easy way to check for updates on their lives. Much more efficient than clicking on a bunch of "Favorites" every day.

5. Sometimes you just need to write stuff out in order to feel better.

6. I love having one part of my life, the blog, be a place that is undivided. Some people have several blogs: one for recipes, one for life, etc. That is great! But for me, I like the appeal of having it all in one blog. I always hope that for visitors to my site it is almost like having coffee with me - you get it all, the craftiness, the homesickness, the job updates and occasionally a cute picture of our cat.

7. It is a great way to practice your writing skills, or if you are a writer for your job, it is a great place to not worry about your writing skills for once! I write for my job, so in the blog it is refreshing to not edit, edit, edit, but just publish!

8. As a side benefit, I have also started reviewing books for both Thomas Nelson Publishers and Bethany House Publishers (both great Christian publishing companies). You sign up to be a reviewer with them (simple online form) and then pick out a book (or several, in the case of Bethany House). They then send you the book (FOR FREE!!!!) and you read it and then, on your own time, post a review on your blog as well as a book buying website (like Barnes and Noble or Amazon). It is really easy and, in the end, you get to KEEP the book! I can't tell you how amazing this is for a girl with a husband in seminary!

That is my list for now. I'm sure I could think of many more wonderful reasons you should start a blog, so if you would like to know more, comment and let me know!