Until a few years ago, I had no idea there was this whole subculture growing and thriving just beyond my view. I thought of the internet as something entertaining to look at and fiddle with when I was bored, supposed to be doing homework, or actually doing homework. I didn’t know there was an entire arena of wonderful, wise, funny, and highly entertaining friends throwing a party I was invited to attend if I wanted.

I am talking about the world of blogging.

It was a few years ago now that I was sitting in church, listening to a guest speaker on Mother’s Day. The speaker was Lisa Whelchel, one of the stars of the late-1980s tv show “The Facts of Life”. She was a wonderful guest speaker who kept everyone interested and entertained in her message. After she spoke and the pastor was thanking her onstage for her message, he mentioned her recently-written book would be on sale in the lobby. Intrigued, I bought a copy, took it home, loved it and its conversational, witty style, and found myself one day browsing around her website that she mentioned in the book.

The website was very interactive, with a blog that she updated frequently and many other features that really let you get a glimpse of who she was and what she was about. She used Biblical truth to support her choices and constantly encouraged those through her writing. I found myself learning lots from her blog, and coming back from time to time to see what was new.

One day, in lieu of an update from her own life, Lisa Whelchel had a guest posting from one of her friends, DeeDee of fiddledeedee.net fame.

Her post was friggin’ HILARIOUS!! It made me laugh out loud (which is the quickest way to make a fan out of me) and I went straight to her blog to get some more chuckles from her musings. She definitely never disappoints.

After a pretty long while of reading her stuff, I began to notice I would “plan out” posts of my own, without even really thinking much about it. It began to be not quite enough to just read the blogs. I wanted to write them too. I wanted people to know a little about me as I learned a little about them.

I was soon to be moving into my very first apartment with three crazy, funny, energetic roommates who were sure to entertain me contantly with sarcasm, ditz moments, and other shenanigans. I was starting my very last year of college before I would be thrown out into the “real world” (worst term ever). I was (and still am) being bombarded suddenly with all these future-altering decisions that must be made IMMEDIATELY.

So much was (and is) going on that I know I have to write, or I’ll wind up face down in the carpet. The one that perpetually needs to be vacuumed. And trust me, its just not safe to be breathing in whatever was left deep down there from the apartment’s previous occupants.

I’m just sayin’.

So that’s why I blog. That’s why I started. And that’s where I am in my life. Its messy, its crazy, its fun, its frustrating, its hilarious. . . But its all real, its my outlet, and its my stab at blogging.