Blog Party 2008

Saturday night was the Annual Blog Party. For the third year, girls from near and far gathered to meet, socialize, chat, and eat. I know many of our husbands, and even friends, don't understand the concept of blogging. They don't get what we're doing online. What are you writing about? Who's blog are you reading now? Why do you care what she is doing in her life? So we spend time online documenting the details of our own lives, and we also read about the lives of other women, many of whom we have never met. I think it's awesome that we have this forum to establish new friendships, support one another, and to help us deal with some of the day to day struggles and/or triumphs in our lives. Yeah blogging!



The party was held at a hotel nearby. The room was decorated really cute- I loved the keyboard centerpieces. Totally genius! We all had name tags, there were door prizes (everyone contributed), a question/answer session, and lots of food... of course!



And I dare say there has never been a cooler Blog Party anywhere- we had a DJ! Thank you to World Mix. James, Cecilia, and the sisters, who put this all together and gave us the use of a microphone and background tunes during the night. We all appreciated it.



I was happy to see my sisters Lori, Amy, and of course, Jill, there. It makes me happy that we share this common interest and that I am living close to them again. I had a moment of gratitude.



Here is a photo of me with some girls at my table (me, Patsy, Rachel, Tasha). It was nice to put some faces to the names and meet some of the many girls I have heard of through Jill's blog. I hate that I get shy in front of groups like this. I don't feel that way in all groups, just a large group like this where I was unfamiliar with so many and felt out of my element. I just get a little awkward- like my first day at a new school (I went through this many times in my life, hence the weird social issue) I don't know what to say, I always assume no one really wants to talk to me. I just get very self-conscious. What can I say?



Take, for example, this moment in front of the whole group when I had to go and claim my door prize. I didn't want to win anything so that I wouldn't have to go up there. I didn't realize how many prizes there were- that everyone was ultimately going to have to go in front. This moment was almost painful. I wish I was one of those outgoing, happy, fun types that is very comfortable in their skin and knows just what to say to everyone. Throughout the night, I was happy to speak to a few other bloggers who share this same shyness.



I often heard people through the night saying, "Oh I have been dying to meet you" or "I love reading your blog" or "Can I please get a picture with you?" It sort of made me feel like the nerdy kid in high school since I don't know a ton of people. At one point someone said to me, "It's really unfair for you because we all know you through Jill's blog but you don't know any of us". I thought, "Yeah, that isn't fair!" I wrote on my name tag, next to my name, "Jill's sister" in parenthesis because I sort of felt like that was my claim to fame during the night.



After all the door prizes, Jill was given this great old typewriter as a gift for all her hard work. She and Kristi seem to be the common thread among all these women, with some appendages of course. It's kind of cool to think of how we all came to be a part of this sisterhood and how we are all interrelated.



So despite the fact that these large social functions intimidate me and make me a little nervous, I still enjoy going and meeting new people, hearing what everyone has to say, and finding out more about the blogging world. I was amazed at how much all these women know about the internet, HTML, blog design, and other technical aspects of this hobby. Amazing, strong, smart women. It was also great to hear stories of how some women had been inspired through blogging, gotten through rough times, or had made wonderful friends, etc.

I was glad to hear a few women say that because of the dangers of lurking neighbors and unknown visitors, they often censor their blog life to appear positive, happier, or otherwise better than it might be portrayed if 100% truth. My blog is titled "Like it Is" because I want to share it all, good and bad, just like I would in a journal. However, I realize (all too well) that this can get you into trouble. So some people censor because they don't want friends, neighbors, or church members reading a post from one bad day with the kids or one post about financial struggles- which might lead to nasty gossip or something like that. This was strangely comforting to me because sometimes I read other women's blogs and think, "Why are they such a fun mom and I am not?" or "Why do they do so many amazing things as a family?" Or "How are they so positive all the time?" etc etc etc.



So this is the group photo from the night. It was really dumb but I was excited to be in the back row for the first time in my life. I am always kneeling in front b/c of my height! I got a whole different perspective of the group. It was a fun night (though way too late) so I am glad that I went and I look forward to getting to know some of these women a little better through their blogs and to seeing them again next year. Thanks to Jill, Michelle, Kristi, and everyone else who helped to put this together.