Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start...

Before I dive in to any particular topic (of which there will be many), I wanted to take a chance to give some background as to what prompted my sudden leap back into the world of blogging.  There were, quite frankly, three specific catalysts that ignited this nonsense.

1. The Mommy Blogs - One day Logan showed me something absurd.  In his investment research he had come upon this mommy blog where we were led to believe the author of said blog had been paid an exorbitant amount of money, as well as free product, to talk about said product on her blog.  I believe the product was an iPhone, though details of stories are not my forte, so don't quote me on that.  Regardless, it was a product that Logan and I were both highly interested in.  Taking a gander at her blog, I really wasn't too impressed.  The writing was not great, the topics uninspiring, even the humor was mediocre.  And yet, this woman seemed to be making a comfortable living doing something that I love to do (writing), while staying home with her kids.  This aggravated me.  Not because it was true, but because I felt she was doing it poorly and I was horribly envious, being stuck in two part-time jobs making next to nothing doing things that I didn't particularly care to be doing.  If she could make money writing a blog about being a mom, certainly I should be able to convince someone to pay me to do something that I love doing!  Also to note here, I've recently become enchanted by the immense number of crafting inspirations, helpful tidbits, and inspiring stories that can be found on people's blogs.  While it's true that there's no shortage of blogging going on, I have come to embrace it and I love the things that I can learn from those who are willing to share. 
2. Make Time to Write - I have a friend from college who was a published author before having graduated from Biola.  Shannon Primicerio's first book, The Divine Dance, has since been republished and she has continued to write and speak.  To date I believe she has written at least nine books.  I find her particularly inspiring, specifically because while she writes and speaks for teen girls primarily on the topic of Christian faith and living, she is also constantly encouraging aspiring writers with tidbits and resources.  Hence the catalyst.  One day her facebook status popped across my newsfeed:  "Shannon Kubiak Primicerio wants to pass this tidbit of advice on to her aspiring writer friends:  You don't find time to write.  You make time to write.  Often, that comes from saying no to other things.  Happy writing!"
3. Publishing - This status popping up came directly on the heels of a weekend in Madison with a close friend of mine, a girl I actually befriended while working at Hallmark in Helena, MT.  Jodi moved to Wisconsin several months before I did and I have been thrilled to be able to continue to see her and spend time with her here.  After graduating from college with a degree in English, Jodi went to a publishing institute in Denver and has been wanting to get into the field of publishing.  Her current circumstances make that more challenging, living in an area that doesn't offer much in the way of opportunity for aspiring publicists, which causes the topic to come up all the more in conversation with her.  This time, we specifically talked about the value of writing.  If you want to write for a living, you have to start writing! 

While I have never endeavored to write for a living, I do love to write and I find it exceedingly therapeutic.  However, I simply don't make time for it.  So I decided it was time to make time.  I realize there are an abundance of blogs, and mine doesn't even have a niche at this point, but for now it's primarily for me and for those few people who may be particularly interested in what's going on in my life.  Because it's my blog, written for my sake more than anything, I'll write about whatever happens to be on my mind.  Right now I'm using it as an opportunity to sort through my own thoughts and to narrow my area of interest... maybe someday we'll discover it's niche!  There is an upcoming topic list being constantly created and I can tell you already you can be looking forward to some topics full of greater depth, so we'll see where it's headed.

Also, if this blog can lead to any potential income, no matter how limited it may be, all the better.  This is your only disclaimer about why I've decided to make this a blog that involves advertising and product placement.  More than anything, I desire to learn and I figured the best way to learn was by doing.  So that you're aware, I receive a percentage of the sales of any product purchased via the Amazon link that you see in this blog.  You'll be seeing more and more of these as I go along, though I have every intention of only sharing things that I whole-heartedly believe are worth owning.

While I have named these three things as the catalysts that got me back to my blogging, it might be fair to say these are the kindling that laid the foundation for the fire to start.  The actual lighting of the fire happened much more abruptly, but that is a story for another day.