Top Ten Thursday: My Blogging Journey

Once again, another fun Top Ten Thursday topic from the Part-Time Working Hockey Mom!

From Tamara - June 14: My six year blogversary is coming up, so I'd like you (and me) to blog about blogging. What are the top ten things that come to your mind reflecting on your blogging journey: what prompted you to start, what obstacles did you have to overcome, what have been your major learnings, what plans do you have...?

I think I was blogging before it was a "thing" but we called it journaling. My first attempts were to keep everyone apprised of how my now late husband was doing in his fight with head/neck cancer. I had worked with websites and web content since the mid-90s so posting updates on our personal website seemed the thing to do.

He passed in November 2004 and suddenly, after doing that final update, I couldn't write. Nothing. Not even to journal my around the country motorcycle trip the following year. Now I wish I had but I was emotionally unable to do so.

I found my voice again in April 2006 when I made the decision to become a full-time RVer. I found joy in writing again and had fun blogging my decision process in choosing a rig and eventually hitting the road.

In late June 2008, I met my now husband at an RV Rally in Gillette, WY and the rest is kind of history. We eventually moved his blog/travel posts and my personal blog over to OUR blog and eventually moved from myprimeyears.com to our current domain, ourprimeyears.com.

But I love blogging - since 2006 I have written several, merged some, and started more. I think five is the most I have done at one time. We had a blog for us, a blog for our puppy, a blog for our Route 66 motorcycle trip plans, a blog for our property in Tennessee and my author blog. Phew! All those personal blogs have been merged into our main blog here but I have started a couple more. The newest will be for Stu to journal the build on his pole barn garage, Backend of Nowhere Garage.

So, while the above isn't a TOP TEN list, it has made me reflect on what I've done via my blogging.

1. I've met a world of new friends through blogging. Some come from a mutual interest like RVing or writing, others from participating in blog hops (like this one).
    
2. In 2012, I ventured into flash fiction writing via prompts from other blogs. That led me to participate in my first April A to Z Blog Challenge. To this day, I am still friends with some of the wonderful folks I met via their blogs.
    
3. Via the April A to Z and the friends I made, I discovered NaNoWriMo.org and their summer companion, CampNaNoWriMo.org. I participated in two and wrote most of the first draft for "Not a Whisper", my first mystery novel and "Home Again", my first (and only) romance novel.
    
4. Blogging has let us create a history of our travels, around the US in our fifth wheel, on our cruises and during our two years living in Ecuador.
    
5. I love looking back and visiting our past adventures through our blog and the photos.
    
6. A low point was making the decision to move my author blog to the WordPress format and link it to my author domain. I spent way too much time on technical issues, trying to stop hackers and doing updates. I eventually moved back to the Blogger platform but lost a lot of readers/followers with the double transition.
    
7. I have helped newbies start blogs, creating them to their liking and then turning it over to them to continue.
    
8. An unexpected bonus to #7 was helping a friend start a blog and get her writing. After her A-Z success in 2014, she published her first book! She now has her own website and a multitude of books. Check her out on Amazon: Scarlett Braden
    
9. This past winter I was burned out on writing. Participating in the 2018 April A to Z Blog Challenge and writing flash fiction again, was just what I needed! 26 Tiny Tales, from A to Z.
    
10. I get to write about whatever I want! Take a peek at an early #TopTenThursday post. You'll see what I write about and what I put on social media kind of goes hand in hand. But the topics are of my choosing. So if I want to write about women and girdles (now SPANX®), I can. If we've gone on a wonderful (or bad) trip, I can post. The #2Doods do something silly? Yup, another post. I get to be me and share that with anyone brave enough to follow along!

Thanks for following along - do you blog? Do you have any special memories, thoughts, why you started, why you stopped?

Ciao for now!