May 14, 2013

I just received this lovely gift from my mother-in-law for Mother's Day. A bottle of rosemary (find this scent if you haven't already!) Mrs. Meyer's dish soap. This is what luxury looks like to me. And it even smells like luxury, which, if you were not aware, smells uncannily like an Aveda salon. As I look at this bottle perched on my sink, it has me reminiscing about how Mrs. Meyer's started me blogging 5 years ago. Yes, it's true. Have I ever told you before? Here's the story of how I started blogging.

One sunny September morning, in the fall of 2008, a young bride woke up in her new (old, tiny, quirky) apartment. The young bride was me. A blonder, less foodie-fanatic version of me. After breakfast (probably a bowl of sugar cereal), I sat at our old iMac computer googling Mrs. Meyer's cleaning products. I was new in town, a rookie homemaker, and newly moved far-far-away from the place that has all the answers, aka, Target. I didn't really know where you find things outside of Target, or which store in our teeny town would carry Mrs. Meyer's, but maybe I could find it online somewhere. My recently acquired cleaning responsibilities in my very own home were thrilling to me and I was ready to take them seriously. Dreams of a fully stocked cleaning bucket danced in my head.

I clicked on the next link on the google results page, not knowing that it would lead me to a land sparkling with possibilities. On the other end of that link was... a blog. It was this very post in fact:


I don't know if I had ever truly seen and read a real live blog before that morning. But what I saw, I loved. I wanted in. It was a blog meant for someone like me, talking about things I was interested in or soon would be. I made plans to come back the next morning to read more. She promised pretty things updated daily, which sounded like an invitation. Count me in. Jordan Ferney's space (which had a different design back then) was neat, clean, and smart. I loved how she shared tidbits from her life and experience as she listed out things she liked. It had everything necessary to captivate and convince me that starting my own blog was not only essential, it was overdue. Time was wasting and creating a blog became the day's priority.

I think I had my little bend in the blog world set up by the time Grant came home from work that day. When he sat down at his desk I proudly announced, "Well, I started a blog today." And he probably said something like, "Really? What are you going to write about?"

Good question, Grant. I'm still figuring that one out day by day.

ps. It's funny how my relationship with blogs has morphed over the years, from being a faithful drop-in to a regular reader to making friends in the comment box to Google Reader to a handful of favorite must-reads. Nowadays, my blog reading time is much shorter and my comment voice has been reduced to a whisper. But I'm happy with all of that, and glad for the things I've gleaned from blogging and reading blogs over the years. 

5 comments:

shanna said...

I love reading stories like these. It's so fun to hear how people first encountered blogs (and weird to think how the next generation probably won't remember those moments). Glad for your voice in this entertaining, inspiring world.

marta said...

this post is going in my top ten. summer, so so so happy you started blogging. i love feeling like i 'know' you!

Amanda said...

i second Marta! I was reading through my old journals last night (the actual paper and pen kind) and found a couple of things I had written down FROM YOUR BLOG! Tidbits that I wanted to remember :) They were from at least a couple years ago I think. Thank you for starting a blog, for sharing your stories, your life with us!

Ali said...

My 'in' to blogging was monkey cupcakes! Love these stories of how it all began.

Kelly said...

Happy to be a part of this beautiful blogging cycle. Thank you for your encouraging and inspiring words that have led so many (including me) to start writing a blog! I am blessed by you and your words.

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about this blog

Hello, I'm Summer. A people-loving introvert whose hope and life is in Jesus. His promises are my passion and my ministry is homelife. This blog is a place for me to write about everyday things. Especially food. My favorite thing to do is sit around a table, lingering over a long meal with good conversation. I live with my husband and our 2 littles. We like blizzards, thrifting, grammar, guacamole, cheerful hearts, nice manners, good movies, and making simple, real, nutrient-dense food.

"If Christ be anything, He must be everything."
-C.H. Spurgeon

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