[This piece was one I wrote over a year ago and still holds true for why I blog.]

One month ago I started this blog. I have posted more than thirty-five entries. Most have included writing, but some have been pictures and movies. I thought I would take a moment to explain why I am doing this, as there may be some who question my motives. First I want to share that I am having a blast, not just with the puppies but with this documenting of my inner-thoughts as Koda and Summer continue to imprint on my heart.

About ten years ago while living in Connecticut I signed up for a writing course. I loved the weekly sharing of writing and the assignments we were given. The different ages and backgrounds of the participants made it even more interesting. I wrote about many things, from the fall foliage outside my window to the memory of being pulled over by a Texas cop with all four kids in the car when I was driving them to school in my fluffy pink robe. Something about the storytelling of funny events and not-so-funny events ignited a spark. Then we moved to Virginia.

Several years later, that little voice inside kept telling me to get back to writing. So when I came across a VMFA catalog that offered memoir writing classes it was just what I needed. As it happens in life, the previous year had been full of heartache and challenge. Navigating through those seasons in life can sometimes leave a person worn down. Writing in the safe space of that memoir class helped me to lighten up by purging the heaviness on my heart.

The more I wrote, the more I gravitated toward reflecting on fond memories of my childhood. The house I grew up in, with every detail down to the ivy covered brick wall where my dog Lucy would lie in the shade all day. My first car, the orange Honda Civic with no front passenger seat but a kick ass stereo. Memoir writing is fun because I can go back and experience life again. I can be back at the kitchen table with my beloved late father-in-law as we all debate politics over bottles of red wine. I can remember his thick mustache, his dark muscled arms from all the work on the roof. He wasn’t as talkative as the rest of us, but when he spoke everyone listened. Memoir writing lets me go back to those nights thirty years ago. The older I get the more I like reflecting on the past, especially the years when our kids were little and life was full of laughter and noise.

Blog writing is my vehicle to be in the moment, and also to travel back to those times. Growing up in a house with four girls, then having our four children, I have loads of stories to relive. Someone asked me why I don’t simply keep a journal or write a book. I do that as well. But there is also something fun about sharing these things. Even if the traffic on this blog website is very low, I don’t care. It is also the “performer” in me. We used to make up skits as kids, then I took acting and singing classes in high school. That career never panned out. But I do love the theatrics of storytelling and entertaining an audience. Even if it’s an audience of one or two or twenty or two hundred, I like sharing.

The day we made the decision to bring two Aussiedoodle puppies into our lives was the day I came up with the idea to start this blog. I figured if I am going into this crazy venture of raising two energetic fur babies, then I have to document this. So I did the first thing you do when you want to create an online blog website, I drove to Barnes and Noble and bought a book on blogging.