Back in February 2004 I found out I was pregnant with my first child. I am not sure where I heard of blogging but thought it was a good time to start a blog. We lived about 9 hours from my family and figured it would be a good way to keep them updated.
Welcome to our Pregnancy Journal. Figured we would use this to keep our family and friends updated on our pregnancy. We got the pregnancy confirmed on Feb 4th, 2004. We think our due date is Oct 15th…so somewhere around then we are going to have a baby. We plan on giving birth at the Women’s Health and Birth Center ….which is about 5 minutes from our house. We have our first appointment with the Midwife tomorrow and we are very excited about it.- This was my very first blog post ever!
I blogged at this blog for a while. My family saw the posts. My friends saw the posts. That was it. I was not aware of any type of blog community. I don’t even know who was blogging in the Milspouse community in 2004. Let me know if you were 🙂 In 2005 when Ben left for Germany I started a new blog mostly just for him. He was going to be away from us for a while so I figured it was a smart thing to do. Easier for him to look at a blog post then deal with pictures in an email. When I moved to Germany and had to say goodbye to my Lexington friends I was glad to have the blog. Some of them had blogs too so that was nice.
Around 2007 was when Myspace got popular and then in 2008 I really started to use Facebook more and more. I felt like I was repeating myself. I would post a status on Facebook and then went to blog and felt like I was just repeating myself. Blogging was no longer fun for me. I pretty much gave it up.
Then in 2009 I had this awesome idea to start an Army Wife blog. I think I had come across Bohemian Transplant’s original blog and loved how she was blogging about her life and how she was connecting with other spouses as well. After three failed attempts and a Twitter account I had finally found the Milspouse Blogging community. I wanted a place to share about what we had been through with the Military. I knew when Ben first joined I would have really enjoyed reading blogs about the Army life. I started commenting on other blogs, they came back and commented on mine and things started to change. I was no longer blogging for my friends and family. I was blogging for anyone out there who wanted to read about our lives in the Military, our deployments or anything else I decided to blog about.
These days I look at Facebook to keep in touch with friends and family in other parts of the world but I have my Army Wife Blog to talk all about our lives as a Military family. I can connect with others and it has been such a great experience for me. But how does one get from blogging just for friends and family to something more? How do you make that jump?
I really think the key is the Milspouse Blogging community or really any blogging community that fits with your blog. Just started commenting on other blogs that are similar to yours or that you really enjoy. Become active on Twitter. I know Twitter seems a little weird and scary at first but I promise it isn’t. I am Armywifejulie on Twitter and would love to connect with you if you join 🙂
Blogging can be such a great thing. Especially if you are dealing with a stressful situation. You learn quickly that you are not alone and this make life a little easier. Plus who doesn’t love finding more friends?
Do you have a blog? Do you want to start one? What is holding you back?
Don’t forget to enter my Army Wives Kindle Fire Giveaway. Just a few more days left to enter 🙂
Last Updated on May 24, 2016 by Writer
JessaLeigh
I started blogging in 2007 as a way to remember what the kids were up to. I've transitioned a lot since then, but can't seem to give up blogging. Now that I found out I'm pregnant, I'm sure there will be lots I'll want to write down so I remember it.
My recent post The baby known as Jelly.
Jenn
I know the Twitter comment is totally aimed at me. LOL 😉 I might start one soon! I just gotta figure out like, 60 interesting things to say so that I don't stall out and never "tweet" anything for a week or something. haha 🙂
Oh, and you were so right about that group that emailed me- SAT prep. I emailed back and said that *I* never even TOOK the SAT's and if they want me to review a baby product or send me on a vacation, please feel free to get back in touch with me. 😉 HA!
My recent post Military Ball Recap- AKA The Post You've All Been Waiting For But *Spoiler Alert* I Am Still Pregnant
Annie
This is pretty much my blog history too 🙂 I went from XANGA to MySpace to XANGA again to blogger and now I am on WordPress and love it. When I went to Blogger I started to get readers that were not my family members and it was so much fun! I just kept going!
Oh and I just adore Anne-Marie. What she has done to support Military wives and families is beyond awesome and amazing!
My recent post Balancing act ~ accomplishing work and home
Peter
I like the story of this post. Looks like a history blogging. Thank you for the share.
My recent post More Information on Freelance Writing Jobs Online
Daneilia
You are doing a great job at blogging. I like connecting with you as a Mom and on the Military side of things.
My recent post Pictures via {Instagram}
Brie Guzik
Like Annie up there, I too started at xanga in 2004. I was 14. I kept it all through high school. When I left for college in 2008 I deleted all forms of social networking (xanga and myspace). Then the facebook boom hit around the time I got pregnant with Sophia later that year and I was thrown back into it. When Sophia was three months old I started a blog on blogger. It was a huge hit for a while and for personal reasons I took it down. Since then I've tried out *deep breath* seven different blogs, if you'll believe it. And I'm onto my eighth. It's insane. I just can't find that comfortable spot. I just know I love to share my life with the world and read about others. And not just in the military community, every one's, anyone's! All this business of domains and username switching though has been a nuisance and I'm so tired of the constant switch up in attempts to find a place that feels 'right' in the blogosphere. Hopefully I'm at a spot now where I can stick and grow like moss among a forest of more wonderful bloggers like you!
My recent post The Guz is Loose