I've sat down to write this post several times over the past few days and each time I just get stuck about what to write about. Then I get in my own head that whatever I write won't be interesting or funny, or anything worth reading, so then I just close the post and go back to doing something else.
It's now been weeks since I started this post and I'm just not sure why the writers block hit so hard on this one. Maybe because it's my 1000th post and to me that felt like a big deal and somehow my anxiety got in the way of recording so many new memories and thoughts because this one had to be somehow amazing or witty or just something significant.
So, instead of significant, I'll just state a few random facts about this blog of mine that somehow feels like family to me after 8 years. I have LOVED so many of the things I've shared here. I've been shown incredible love and kindness when I shared my journey a few years back when I felt like I had lost myself and for real life moment posts I published. I've been criticized for sharing too much and for sharing my kids photos on social media. I've been stopped in the street by acquaintances who saw my post on my FB and wanted to share their thoughts on.
Jim tells the funny story of one time he was at a local park and one of my FB friends (who he didn't know very well at all) stopped him and said she loved seeing photos of James on the blog and she recalled a funny story I had told. He was, and still is, amazed at the commitment I put in to sharing our families memories, even if it does make for an awkward stranger conversation once in awhile.
I have spent COUNTLESS evening hours compiling posts, downloading photos, writing and rereading, and sometimes agonizing over what I've written. I've wondered if I should say something at least a time or two. I've let my anxiety get in the way of publishing posts for fear of being too real or for being judged for sharing something that others wouldn't.
These 999 posts have been viewed more than 150,000 times. I know that is nothing in today's crazy social media sharing world, but to me those views are special. It means that that many times people clicked on my blog, or found it somehow through the internet and it makes me smile that maybe even some of them read a post or two as well :)
When I look at my What I Talk About the Most sidebar and I scroll through the massive list and see the names of our friends, our family members, the kids schools, etc, it makes my heart warm and so damn proud that I've stuck through this every single year over the last 8. Some years I've done a ton (2013 had 216 posts!) and some years I haven't done many at all (2018/2019 tied at just 48 posts), but every year there is some photographic/anecdotal proof that my family existed.
I look forward to writing this blog for many years to come. I hope my kids will still allow me to share on here, but even when they don't I figure there will still be lots of things for me to talk about for many years to come. For now I'm going to continue to blog as much as I can about the things that matter the most to me.
My 4 loves with me at the beach on my birthday! Just another day to celebrate the life we have. 
My awesome new mug from my friend Kelly! .
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