Memory Lane

On this day, the Autumnal Equinox and my 600th post, I wanted to take a little time to reflect on my little piece of the internet. I started this blog on March 17, 2007, which means I have been blogging for 2.5 years. The blog resulted from asking Paul how hard he thought it would be for me to create and use a blog. He suggested we look into it and, less than 15 minutes later, I had this blog.

The original motivation for having a blog was to create a place to record my completed projects. I wanted an intangible place where I could post project information and photos to share with others and to record it for my own reference. Two and a half years later, I still post about knitting projects. However, with the existence of Ravelry, the need to record knitting projects on the blog is lessened. Ravelry records it in a way that it is far more superior than my blog posting records. Project posts are still a part of the blog, but are not what drives the blog at this moment.

Last year what drove my blog was cooking with some splashes of daily life. Many of the posts were a result of my New Year's resolution to cook new recipes. Since then, I have gone back to those posts countless times in search of a recipe that I discovered during that year. It is a great reference when trying to pinpoint the magazine, book or website it came from. The year of structured exploration has definitely instilled some new habits for seeking out and trying new recipes and it greatly expanded my arsenal of go-to recipes.

My passion for cooking and food has not dwindled, but this year's drive is about Project 365. My version of the project has definitely achieved the desired result of inspiring me to post regularly. At over 170 days into the project, I will admit that sometimes I am tempted to excuse myself from the task. But, like with exercise, sometimes you don't want to do it, but you have to do it anyways. And, normally afterwards you are glad you did it, because it is good for you.

I have never been one to write in a journal, so it is actually quite a surprise to me that I have stuck with blogging. I really find value in recording parts of my life in this space. I do it for my benefit, but I also do it because it is fun for me to share with you, the blog visitor. I do it because it is nice to show you things and to read your comments. And, just like with looking at old photo albums, sometimes it is really fun to take a little trip down memory lane. This blog is becoming my ever-evolving Memory Lane.

(The photo in this post is a snippet from my pre-blogging days. Paul and I participated in The Photo Booth Chronicles. We were 23, baby-faced, dreadlocked and newly in love. The photo was from an actual photo booth where you have to hang around and wait while the print gets developed inside of the machine. So old school!)