Thank You For Thinking I'm Interesting

Guess where I am today?
CHICAGO! Love of my life.

I had a free roundtrip ticket to use before July, so away I went to spend some girl time with  friends that I've known since elementary school. Boom. Please and thank you for reading my previously scheduled posts, which I wrote in advance so you wouldn't miss me too much.
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The more I get sucked into the world of Blogland, the more I start to get overwhelmed by the incredible number of blogs out there.

Thousands of blogs. Even hundreds of thousands. Millions. I don't even know how many.

Some blogs are not very good. 
It's hard to describe what makes a "good" blog. I see blogs that have thousands of followers, and I personally don't think the blog is great. But obviously other people do, so I don't know.

There are also a lot of really great blogs. Pretty blogs with gorgeous photography and clever, wity writing and a real-life person behind the screen who's trying to carve out a place for herself or himself by sharing stories about the things and people they love. I was going to name a few of my favs, but really I can't even pick. You know who you are.

I'm not saying I am always clever or wity, but I do like to share stories. And I like to think I can string words together and sound somewhat interesting. 

And my photography is gorgeous. Clearly. Selfie for the win.

I totally lost these aviators. Major sad face.

I started this blog three years ago when I was working as a professional editor at a publishing company full time. I spent every day reading the writings of other people, and I wanted and needed a place where I could be creative and write what I wanted to write in the way I wanted to write it.

Now, three years later, it's hard to believe all the things I've written about:

>I moved from Chicago to Oklahoma, where I knew a total of 5 people in the entire state, none of which included my immediate family or any friends.
>I met this guy: 

>I dated him and then got engaged and married.
>I worked my first "adult" job and then quit and went to another job and got fired and then started pursuing my dream job.
>I turned 24 and 25 and 26.
>I ran my first half marathon. Then I ran 4 more.
>I trained for a marathon.

All of those stories are here, on this blog.

For the first year, maybe even two years, I didn't tell many people about my blog. My mom and my friend Audra were my only faithful readers. And Jordan, of course. He's read every single post of my 550+.

Then I decided I didn't care if people thought I was a terrible writer or if they hated my blog, so I posted links on Facebook and started talking about it more.

It's kind of scary to put yourself out there like that. It's still scary, actually.

But I keep writing because this is the perfect creative outlet for me. I write about the things I'm passionate about (lately that's mostly running) or what I'm struggling with, and I find a community that is, for the most part, accepting and willing to listen. Blogging is a time-consuming hobby that takes hours of my week with little payback besides the comments I get from readers, both on the blog and in person. (And the giveaways I win! You guys, I am SO LUCKY. It's crazy.)

I realized a few days ago, not for the first time, that are millions of other blogs you could be reading. Yet for some reason, you come here. You read and comment and tell me I'm funny and that I'm a good writer. You congratulate me when I have exciting news and encourage me when I'm feeling down. And while I know that a lot of people who know me in real life read this blog, a lot of you I've never met in person. And still you come here.

So I guess what I'm saying, since I've already made this horribly cheesy, is thank you for coming here day after day.

Thank you for thinking I'm interesting.

Oh, and if you tell me your middle name, we can be true Internet friends. I will start crafting your friendship braclet immediately.