5 years

Some celebrations are big.

Like that time I turned 30.

Others are more quiet reflections.

Like today.

My blog is 5 today.

It all started with an email from Stephanie, urging me to 'get blogging.' I chose my blog name, set it up with blogger, and wrote my first post, which is about how I got the nickname Phread. I kept writing.

There were a handful of us: Stephanie. Chris. Lisa. Courtney. Bek. CW. Queen. Wendy. Geo. Steve. Jamie. Kacy. Emmie. Gabby. Azu'car. JC. Lorien. We could write what we wanted, everything was an inside joke and posts built upon posts. We were tagged and memed. We hesitantly mentioned that we had blogs because What's A Blog? Comments were counted. People were validated. Lunches and late nights were had.

Time went on. Some stopped, or slowed, their posts. Some wanted to delete and walk away. More people began reading and understanding. More and more people. Ads were showing up. Facebook grew a shadow on our blogs. We met each other face-to-face as people went on vacations or introduced friends-of-friends. We edited what we said because people at church were saying, "I read your blog...". We thought about it, and we kept writing, kept posting.

The crash happened. Let's be honest, it was significant for those of us who had been blogging. (I started this blog at Stephanie's urging, remember.) Online auctions. Donations. Generosity and love in droves. Roles changed. Friendships changed, for better or worse, for stronger or weaker.

And here we are. With sponsors and giveaways and conferences. With buttons and banners and stats.

We keep writing.

I'll keep writing.

Thank you for being on the journey with me. Really, from my heart, thank you.