Chris did a little magic with my blog last week and saved it off as a book. I was honestly surprised that he did that and was even more surprised at the fact that I have written over a million words on the blog in the past 18 1/2 years. That is a lot of words. Of course not every post is perfect or inspiring or probably even worth reading, but it has been fun to see the evolution of the blog over the years.
To date, including this post, I have shared 4,793 posts during this time frame. While my frequency has varied and has definitely dropped this year, it is still pretty impressive to think that I have done this for that long and had that much to ramble on about. I have a lot of blogger friends who share similar stories and it is kind of fun to know that I am still in contact with many of them from those early days.
The interesting thing was to see the major themes that the blog was broken into. Basically the analysis broke down the posts into categories as I have them tagged and it was no surprise that it picked up on some of the. most important themes in my life and on the blog. I write about what I know and what I experience. Hence the name – It’s Just Life.
The breakdown included:
The Origins of It’s Just Life – Finding the Extraordinary in the Ordinary
Time in Australia
The Village — Family, Dementia and How We Experienced Grief and Loss
North Carolina Beauty
Teapot Tuesday
Comments for a Cause
The Cats
The Book Lady
Chrisisms
The Story of Us
Plus a lot more but that gives you an idea. I primarily started the blog when we moved to Australia for Chris’ job with CSR Sugar and it was a way of keeping the family and friends up to date on what was happening. Then it morphed into a bit more, featuring teapots, spiritual insights and devotions, travel and more. It became a journal of sorts and while there are many things that are too personal to put out there in public domain, I did write about a lot of things that are deeply personal like my mother’s dementia. Through it all I have had loyal fans and have tried to maintain those relationships although I am not as good at answering comments as I once was. Also changing to Disqus for commenting has prevented many from commenting for some reason and I am sorry for that but am appreciative that folks still read even if they can’t comment.
A couple of weeks ago I got an email from Feedspot informing me that once again I am featured in Top 80 North Carolina Blogs on the web (2026 Edition). Feedspot is an RSS Reader that lets you subscribe to blogs, news sites, and any website you want to keep up with. Thanks to Feedspot for recognizing my blog and for honoring me with this listing on their site. It’s a great place to explore to find other interesting blogs and I follow quite a few that are listed. Check it out by clicking here.
Life is interesting, isn’t it? Taking time to look back over a few of those blog posts over the years reinforces one. thing in my mind. I have an amazing family and some really amazing friends as well. I have had an interesting and full life and am grateful for each and every experience. Life is not always easy and the path is not always smooth but I appreciate the lessons that I have learned over the years. Thanks for being on the journey with me and don’t forget to look for the extraordinary in the ordinary.
