Thursday, May 14, 2015

one thousand

I had planned to blog about reaching the halfway point of Whole30 tonight, but when I logged on, I noticed that this will be post number 1,000...and that just seems way too monumental a milestone to waste on something as frivolous as a diet nutritional reset. So maybe we'll catch up on the food talk later.

So, a thousand posts. That seems like a lot. I mean, it's been a little over seven years since I posted that first scintillating post, so I guess I'm really only averaging 142 posts a year, but still. A thousand. It feels big.


Hey! Erika of 2008 looks like a younger, skinnier version of Erika of the Present!
I remember what I was thinking when I started this blog. Along with what I explained in my first post about not wanting to be a creepy anonymous commenter anymore, I had another motive as well. You see, I was really into mommy blogs back then. And although we'd only been married barely six months, I knew we would start trying to have a baby sometime soon, and I knew that once we did have a baby pregnancy, I would most definitely want to have a blog. I wanted to do the weekly bump pictures, the monthly updates, the nursery reveal, and most of all- inundate the world with the pictures and stories about our babies. All four of them- because that was the plan.

So I figured I'd better go ahead and 'establish' a blog so that I'd be ready when the time came. I wanted to be in the habit of writing, and I wanted to have a handful of blog friends that would care if I did. So I started writing, biding my time until I could break out into full-fledged mommyblog-dom.

My selfie game was strong then, even if my makeup game was not. And look at that cool date stamp!
And you know, it's a really good thing I started this blog then. God knows I needed all that time to really get in the habit of writing, right? Ha. 

If I'd known then how long my journey to parenthood was going to be, I don't know if I would have started. I had no desire to be an infertility blogger- I barely even knew that such a thing existed. And when I first learned about them, it seemed a little too depressing- and simultaneously like I'd finally found my tribe. And because I found my people, I kept writing. 

And now that I've crossed to the other side, the promised land, the greener pasture, it's easy to focus on everything that's great and awesome (and truly, most everything is), but I am so thankful for the years when it wasn't, but I wrote anyway. Maybe it seems weird, but I don't want to grow satisfied- to forget where I came from, to forget what I went through, to forget the years the locusts ravaged. And I don't want to forget that even in the midst of that, there were so many happy days. So many amazing experiences. There was so much love, and experiences to laugh at, and people to hug, and grammar to rant about. And I'm thankful that I wrote it down so that now, and tomorrow, and in twenty years- I will still remember. And I'm thankful for each of you that came down into my joy or my sadness, whatever the flavor of the day happened to be, and joined me in my laughter and tears.

C'mon now, did you really think I'd force you to go a whole post without a picture of Millie? I know my people.
 If there's anything I've learned in my old age (I'm not the whippersnapper I was back in '08, unfortunately), it's that I never remember as much as I think I do. Sometimes I reread my old posts and am shocked by how I have NO RECOLLECTION of whatever situation or event I blogged about that day- and it's weird, like finding out I have amnesia or something. And so I'm thankful for my record here, and it encourages me to keep going- to write down my stories, even the ones that are mundane or ordinary or less-than-beautiful, because one day (or in ten minutes) I will forget. And I think that would be sad.

They let me get away with ANYTHING during breathing treatment time!! Parent guilt for the win!
 I guess I've rambled for long enough...you know, for like seven years, actually. But I just wanted to say thanks. Thanks for caring, for commenting, for sharing your lives, for encouraging me, for challenging me, and for making me feel like my silly stories- all one thousand of them- matter. 

26 comments:

  1. I'm so glad you started a blog, and that our paths crossed on the internet! You must have done a good job of "evangelizing your blog!" Ha!

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  2. I sometimes wonder if I would have gotten through the locust years without your blog. I'm so glad to be on the other side of the fence with you, and so amazed - STILL - that I've gotten to hug you in person. I sometimes wonder too what the purpose of blogging is, but when I think about reading your blog, tears streaming down my face as I ugly cry, I remember - ah, that's what blogging is for. To touch someone, to say "You aren't alone" or "Try this lipstick." It's about connection. I'm so glad I found you in this big internet world. Your blog has made a big difference to a lot of people, me among them. So keep on, keep on, and congrats on 1000. Your life truly is Something Beautiful to your readers.

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  3. I have loved all of it! You really do keep it real.

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  4. Holy molly! 1,000?!?

    "Maybe it seems weird, but I don't want to grow satisfied- to forget where I came from, to forget what I went through, to forget the years the locusts ravaged."- mm hmm. Yep. THIS!

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  5. Your blog is one of my favourites and I hope you keep writing so I can continue to bask in your happiness or sadness or grammar-nazi-ness! Ive been following for a long time and plan to continue for as long as you write!

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  6. You've brought lots of encouragement, hope, and laughs my way. Happy 1,000th post!

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  7. Congrats on 1,000! So thankful I found your blog! You gift others by sharing your heart, giving encouragement in the mist of pain, and making us laugh (with you, not at you)!

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  8. Love this post and how your blog has evolved- I think it's so cool that when we started writing, we had no idea where things would end up (and obviously still don't), but God did, and He encouraged us to write for that very reason, no doubt!

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  9. Hooray for 1000 posts! Thanks for bringing all of us along on your journey :)

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  10. For a moment I thought you cut your hair. You don't look an ounce younger or thinner!!!
    I'm not going to say I'm happy your an infertility blogger, but it's likely I wouldn't have found you if not. Thank you for always being willing to share your story!
    Love the cute pictures of Millie! Those cheeks make me smile!

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  11. It's funny you talk about forgetting things you wrote because I look back and think the very same thing! I do not remember writing some of the things I've written, it's crazy and I've only had a blog for like 3 years maybe? Something like that. Anyway, in the time I have been reading your blog it has been so enjoyable and even more so now because of the adorable baby pictures of course :)

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  12. I love you hear your big plans. I had them too! I was going to have 4 - 6 kids because even numbers are good and no one has to be the middle. All evenly spaced and boys, except for my last. I would finally get that little girl I always wanted with all these big brothers to care for her. Then I became a mom and learned the phrase, "you get what you get and don't pitch a fit." Words to live by, really!

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  13. I'm a (relative) latecomer to your space, but I echo above sentiments. I'm glad you blog. The transition from "whatever" blog to infertility blog to mommy blog is not easy at all, but you are one I look to as inspiration, because you somehow manage to make it seem natural and not weird or awkward. Probably because you were talking about all sorts of things all along.

    Happy 1,000! Also, I'm eagerly awaiting your Whole30 halfway mark recap!

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  14. Isn't it weird to look at urself years before?? I have to agree with everyone I'm glad u blog. Ur post are hilarious and seeing u get to ur intended goal when u started this blog is amazing.

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  15. I remember finding your blog from a link on Kelly's Korner, loving it, and then losing the link. After awhile, I started going back to the "pray for" postings trying to find it, and eventually I did (and then wasted half a day at work getting "caught up")! So glad to have found it again. Thanks for taking us along on your journey--can't wait to see where it goes from here!

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  16. 7 years! 1000 posts! That's incredible and what a story it tells. That's so cool. And as usual, totally adorable baby :)

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  17. 7 years! 1000 posts! That's incredible and what a story it tells. That's so cool. And as usual, totally adorable baby :)

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  18. Happy 1000! I am so glad I found you a few years back. I always enjoy reading what you have to say

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  19. Happy 1000! I am so glad I found you a few years back. I always enjoy reading what you have to say

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  20. Love your blog! Thanks so much for sharing (found your link on Amateur Nester blog). I've so enjoyed catching up on the last year or so! Millie is beyond adorable!! Kissable, kissable cheeks.

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  21. Wow 1000!?? I think I came in around 600 and you've kept me hooked every since :) I love your writing and all of your stories! Colleen's book from you was the first blog giveaway I ever won!! I hope you write 1000 more!!! :)

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  22. You're finally a mommy blogger! :) AND one that isn't annoying to the infertile blogging community... so, high five. ;) So glad you started your blog back then because i have LOVED reading it. How's whole30 going? Sorry my page isn't very active right now!! It will be.... it seems to come in waves. Haha!

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  23. Looooove this! And that picture is so cute!!

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  24. Yip for 1000!! Nice! I had to laugh at the beginning. We too planned for 4 kids and when I started my blog, it was to show our family the few posts it took to get pregnant so when it would happen in a couple months we could share our treatments...I had no clue it would turn in to 192052395327509 posts about infertility!! I agree though, it's a journey, it's our story, and it's recorded!
    Millie=perfection byw. I work with another girl who follows your blog and she came into my classroom and said, "Isn't Erica from the blog's daughter adorable, like freakishly adorable??" <3

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  25. Congrats on hitting 1,000 posts! Looking forward to your next thousand! ;-)

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  26. Happy 1,000th!!! That's got to be some kind of record or something!!!

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