I’ve come out of my hiding place to acknowledge and celebrate the anniversary of this blog. Eight years ago today, I hit publish. That first post, on Blogger, was just some text. The next day I figured out how to add a photo.

Baby steps.

Occasionally, I read posts by bloggers in which they are considering getting rid of older posts that don’t reflect where they are now. I always shake my head at that idea: you wouldn’t be where you are now without the journey you’ve taken. Right? Those older posts of mine, though shorter and somewhat tentative, are just as real and valid as any post I’ve done since.

They stay.

Over the course of this past eight years, I’ve kept to my vision for this blog. It’s a simple one. To share my life in our cottage with you. Until I got a laptop later in that first year, I was unable to share my life on the road with you, but as soon as it was purchased (in Iowa, on a coaching job) – freedom!

Along the way, I played the with idea of trying to get more readers. But the way in which I would have had to do that never felt like the right fit for me. It felt calculating. It felt false. About three years into the process, I started blogging every day, thinking it would help my ad income, but eventually I realized it was a gift to myself. The practice of writing a blog post every morning was grounding. It gave me focus. It kept me honest.

I also discovered a love for photography. What a gift that has been!

I accepted who I am and what this blog is; a daily journal that I share with you, my readers. To be perfectly honest, writing about one thing, one niche, all of the time would drive me nuts. I have a lot of passions and I refuse to limit the blog to just one. That specific focus, by the way, would have been a way to make this blog a money-maker. But it just isn’t me.

So I keep blogging, earning enough money from ads for the blog to pay its way, and that’s just fine.

I started out on Blogger, decided to move to WordPress in 2012, learned enough coding to design a layout and a look that I liked, and here we are today. Yes, there are hassles. Nefarious types are always trying to hack into the blog. Actually, if you blog, they’re always trying to hack into yours as well, I just have the security measures in place that tell me what’s going on at any given moment. Maybe ignorance is bliss? Anyway, it’s annoying and sometimes alarming, but in the big picture, it’s not a big deal. I’ve never regretted my move to WP. I have more control over the look and feel of the blog. It’s a good fit for me.

Along the way, I’ve shared our home with you. I’ve shared my gardening adventures. I’ve shared my on-the-road stories. I’ve shared my handwork. I’ve shared the dollhouse – from its very beginnings to its publication in two magazines. I’ve written about my husband and my dogs and my sister and my parents and my nephews and nieces and my ‘lost’ sister and my friends and colleagues. I’ve written about my work and my love for the theater. I’ve written about things I believe in. I’ve written about animals and animal rights. I’ve written about my longtime vegetarianism. I’ve written about the serious and the silly.

I’ve shared the painful loss of Don’s father, my mother, my father, Riley, and Scout.

I couldn’t have done that without you. Truly. Without you out there reading, commenting and reaching out to me, I probably would have thrown in the towel. One of the best things about the move to WP in 2012 was that it gave me the chance to reply to comments and to let you know, via email, that I had replied. The conversations that have come out of that have been stimulating and moving and funny and sad and everything a good conversation between friends should be.

Thank you. Thank you for being there. Thank you for being there anytime, but especially in those times when I have suffered profound loss. I can never thank you enough for that.

I can’t imagine not blogging, but who knows? Maybe somewhere down the line, I’ll feel it’s time to move on. But not right now. Right now, with your understanding that I will occasionally take a few days away from the blog, as I have been doing since the loss of Scout, I’ll keep on keeping on, as they say.

Thanks. And Happy Wednesday.