It all started with...

I didn't know what a blog was. I'd never even heard the term before, and I never imagined that such an alternate universe existed until my good friend Amy was preparing to receive the referral for their baby girl from China. Amy had been spending time reading blogs from the Chinese adoption community and at our annual Prayer Group Retreat, she shared some of the sites with me.


I came home and immediately became addicted to Do They Have Salsa in China? (A little side note here: I learned everything I know about blogging by reading and viewing the Salsa blog. I learned what a post, sidebar, link, and comment was. I learned that reading a complete stranger's writing wasn't considered stalking, but lurking, and that it was socially acceptable, not to mention perfectly legal.) It wasn't long before I started noticing that M3 kept a blogroll of sites that she visited regularly, and so I began clicking at will. I figured if she liked reading them and I liked reading her, then I would probably like reading the same ones she read. It was during this time that I discovered the really cool technology of clicking on the names of people in the comments section. This would take me to their blog and I was introduced to a new person. Some of the sites I visited often and some only once or twice. If I found a blog that I liked, I would try a few of the sites on their blogroll or in their comments section, and the process would continue.


I went on like this for a while and I discovered that the Chinese adoption community isn't the only group that is thriving in the blogsphere. There are homeschoolers, moms, Christians, organic food lovers, book clubs, crafters, scrapbookers, organizers, photographers, and the list could go on.


After a few weeks of reading a variety of different blogs, I realized that I could write one too. I didn't have to be waiting for an adoption to go through or inventing new ways to cook chicken to write. I just needed to have something to say. So in September 2005, I began blogging. At first I only told my closest friends and family about it. Laci was probably my first loyal reader and commenter.


I started finding people that I actually know through Amy's blog. She and I are friends from college, but we have many mutual friends that she knew in her area that have since moved to my area. I would read the comments on her blog and connect to people that I know. This is how I found Lisa who in turn linked me to Jennifer, Amy, April, Erica B, and Larissa.The internet really makes it a smaller world than we realize.


My biggest discovery came when Sunny Jo suggested that I read Beth Moore's Living Proof Ministries blog. It was just in the beginning stages and I really enjoyed reading the comments as much as the posts. This is where I discovered BooMama. One of her comments made me spew my drink and I have been reading her blog faithfully every day.


BooMama has buttons in her sidebar for 5 Minutes for Mom and eventually (one day when I was stalking...er...lurking her blog) I clicked on it. 5 Minutes is a great site for all things mom and they host a couple of blog carnivals, one of which is Tackle it Tuesdays.


There are a few other ways that I have heard of to find new sites but I have not tried them. You could join a blogring. From what I know of them they are lots of fun, I've just never tried one. I believe Larissa is a member of the Christian Women Online blogring, so you might ask her more about it. You could also try a site called StumbleUpon. Again, I haven't tried it, so use it at your own risk. The best site I've found to answer questions, or just learn more about this monster called blogging is Blogging Basics 101. They write a new article pretty much every day. They use normal, everyday, common mom language to explain things, and if you have a question they have probably already answered it and neatly filed it away in one of their categories.


So, long answer short, when you find a blog you like, click on the buttons and links in the sidebar and in the comments. You never know what or who you will find!