The notes and comments I received yesterday and today have been so incredibly supportive, I want to thank everyone – those who comment regularly, those who email me, and those who just lurk. I really appreciate the willingness to participate even on the basest of levels.

Writing is a lonely thing. Not always, sometimes it is amazing and euphoric, but a lot of the time it is me, at my computer, (unfortunately) beating myself up over a sentence or wracking my brain to figure out exactly how to say something. It may seem like I write a blog, I get constant feedback, and wow Lauren how many more accolades do you really need?! But it doesn’t feel like that from where I am sitting. It feels like just another way we are all trying to relate to one another. And sometimes it feels like I’m taking a big risk.

Did you know that I still think about 1 post that I wish I hadn’t written? Or that I wish I had written differently? I re work that post in my head all of the time.

I think overall the good stuff outweighs the bad stuff and I guess that’s kind of like life. Sometimes things suck and are hard and frustrating for whatever reason, but the rest of the time things are pretty good (hopefully) and sometimes even they are marvelous.

I’m not sure how this space will evolve over time. There are definitely parts of my comfort level that are changing, but I think the main principles of what I want to accomplish here are staying the same. Maybe those changes are actually things going on inside me, maybe nobody will even notice from the outside.

So thank you! It was a lovely reality check and lots of food for thought.

I have been keeping a blog for 10 years. Some of it does not exist anymore, but some of it still does – which YIKES. In those 10 years I have always greatly loved this format. It has been a huge resource for me and a huge outlet and excellent writing practice. This is the first time that I am finding myself questioning if I want to continue this space and that is scary. If I am being super honest I have felt my confidence greatly shaken in the last few months as far as my ability to write interesting, engaging articles. I have major concerns that my posts are dull and lifeless, repetitive, vapid. I rarely feel they are initially, but...

A year ago (I can’t believe it was a YEAR) I had my first giant questionnaire – all about you! You all read about my (sometimes boring, let’s be honest) life on the daily (well at least 3 times a week… oops) and for your support I am incredibly grateful. The first reason I write a blog is because writing is how I make sense of things. The second is for the discussion in the comments. When I need inspiration I come to you, when I have a question about how to move forward with a conflict in our marriage, how to add more veggies in my life, even how to move forward in this blog land as my life and family and priorities...

Before Gabe popped out I angsted over how I would change personally and, yes, how this space would change. I didn’t want this to be baby times USA woo hoo woo hoo pro-creating like whaaat! I am here to report that having a baby has changed me, the deep down bits of me, the me of me, in small ways – NOT big ways. I am sleepier, I am busier (And have less time for bullshit. It is actually a major blessing.), and now that I am not pregnant I feel as though I have razor sharp focus. My time is precious and when I want to get something done it HAPPENS. I multi-task and I juggle and that is how I will succeed, if I succeed at all. I am...

So, the wonderful Christy Tyler had a survey run this week (which I took! because she is awesome!) and it got me thinking: oh yeah, I haven’t done a check-in on content in over a year! And a lot of things have shifted in that year… I’m definitely headed into a new life-realm (Any minute now! ALLEGEDLY.) and am trying to cast a wider reader-net to keep comments and shared experiences dynamic and varied. Along with some other things I’m attempting…. (gogogogogo). Mostly, I want to keep growing and growing WITH you… these questions help me understand how to succeed at that. There are 9 questions to answer, so...

Things have been crazy the last few weeks. I feel like our weekends have never been full of more to-dos than ever before and our work weeks are just as crazy with stuff happening before and after the times we are actually working. Running running running… and being big and slow. And not sleeping through the nights and itching to use our baby things. We make up little rules. “We can only do 3 errands this weekend. Let’s pick just 3. Because you need to rest!” This is what Kamel keeps saying, and we try… we really do. But every weekend those “3″ things seems to take up way more time than we expect. No...