Changes!

I am really, really excited to announce that I have a BLOG DATE with my girl Tina from  Like Ordinary Life on Sunday. I see her at school regularly but she's sort of a blog goddess in my eyes. She's able to capture herself in a way I really envy through her posts and though the general feel of her site. I've been asking for her advice since day one of starting this blog and she's honestly the person that gave me the biggest push to get things rolling on here. When I embarked upon this endeavor, to be truthful, I thought I knew a lot more and talked blogs with Tina pretty regularly. After all, I used to have a blog about weight loss and my journey with that — it couldn't be so different, right? Ha! The post writing isn't so different (except that I get to write about a lot more stuff over here than I did on the old blog) but the rest is pretty different. Before, I was so small scale and really had no idea thre was anything more. I feel dumb even admitting that but it's true. Now, if I really want to be a real bonafide blog with views and linkups and bloghops and sponsored posts and all that other good stuff, I've got to reach out and ask for some help. Quick, Tina, help!

I didn't really put a whole lot of front-loading into this blog. I had an idea for a concept for a few months but never did anything with it. After talking about it a dozen times I finally decided to do it one night and so I just sat down and created it. I got the title, the web space and started writing. Now, after writing for a month or so, it's becoming a solid part of my life and a part that I am proud of... or that I want to be proud of. I have mostly been holding up my end of the bargain as far as the posts go but the actual site is seriously lacking in creativity and all the little pieces of me. There's no Brooke-Sparkle here yet. I need a logo and pictures and pizzazz. I need personalized designs and fun things to make it feel a bit more like home. The site should give people an idea of who I am just by clicking onto the front page and right now, I don't feel like it's doing that at all. I'm hoping to start figuring that out this weekend. I don't think we'll be able to remedy that piece but we can at least get some ideas on how to get that accomplished.

We're planning to sit down Sunday night and I'm ready to really dig into this blog. I need to get an editorial schedule written for myself, make some plans for where I see things going and I need to think about getting in touch with other bloggers. Other than Tina, who I found at my school, I haven't really figured out how to navigate into the world of blog networking and create the connections that lead to post swaps and all sorts of fun and exciting things that will really help get me in touch with more people.

I feel like blogging helps me to feel like a whole person. It keeps me balanced and provides me with some space for my creativity and thoughtfulness. I've really missed it while I have been away and need it back in my life. If I can get things rolling in a way that makes me feel solid and good about it, I know it will make a huge difference in how I view the 'what I'm doing with my life' part of things I posted about yesterday. So, I'm hoping this blog date of mine turns out to be as fruitful as I hope it to be. I've got my super-secret-old-school note that Tina left for me on Monday with all her ideas she has for me and I've already chipped a few of them away. I'm going to be carrying my pen and paper around the next few days as well so I can be sure to write down all my questions for when I get there. I'm so giddy with excitement — it's like buying new school supplies — oh, the potential!

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