Two Years Ago Today

Two years ago today I started this blog. I find that really hard to believe. The blog was started as a way to keep up with family and friends, and to share the random pieces of my life with the dark void that is THE INTERNET. I have grown a lot since starting this site, and it has grown right along with me.

In my two years of blogging I have lost about 40 pounds, traveled, become a published photographer, changed jobs, applied to Grad School, and so many other things. The best part, though, is that you have been here cheering me on. Two years ago I would have been happy with a few people checking in on the blog a couple times a week. Last month the blog had 1,100 hits. I can tell you that the blog is read in the U.S., U.K., Netherlands, Canada, Germany, Belize, China, Malaysia, Brazil, Russia, Singapore, Iran, the Philippines, Denmark, India, Morocco, and more. I can also tell you that the majority of those readers return, and that is truly the key. When you take the time to read my words and look at my pictures, I feel a deep sense of gratitude that hasn't changed in the last two years. I am humbled.

Here are a few of my (and apparently your) favorite posts from the past two years.

A three-part driving journey through Europe.

A birthday letter to myself.

A Published Photograph!

Conversations with my father. One, Two, Three

How my mother tried to kill me.

Ladies and Gentlemen, My Grandma.

So, thank you for your support. Thank you for your comments. Thank you for your presence. Thank you for helping to make writing this blog an enjoyable experience for me.

Here's to another year of blogging. I know the twos are notoriously terrible, but that's okay. I was also two once.

Comments

I'm going to point y'all to the pretty little button on the sidebar that says "Will blog for comments".  That's not a joke people.  Comments really give me a warm fuzzy feeling and show your support of the blog.  Thanks to all my frequent commenters!

Who ranks at the top? Debra, Fla.Remo.Gal, and Karen!

Thank you all!

Blogging Bloggers

I wanted to give a shout out to Florida Remodel Gal who has had me creating her blog headers from the beginning of her blog about a year ago.  My latest creation is up right now.  I have to say, the house looks AMAZING!  FRG, you must keep that guest room open!  

Missing

Well, if you have been checking the blog recently you may have noticed that I used a really long contest to drag out time have been a little absent.  

I blame the insanity of work along with some emotional ups and downs.  On the work front, huge changes are coming in the next few months that will either lead to a total change in my position, which would be exciting, or the need to find a graduate school and a new source of income.  Don't worry, either way this works out I am fully covered and have solutions.  

On the emotional front, I have been battling with new medications, lots of intense emotions, and a great deal of stress.  I seem to have reached a point where it feels like I don't have any down time.  I am always doing something.  I then begin to feel guilty about the things I am neglecting (like this blog).  I have realized that I have a tendency to take on too much at one time.  It's difficult to have things that you would like to complete, but no time to complete them.  Then the fun things become less fun.  When I hit one of my lower lows, I wasn't doing much of anything other than resting and healing emotionally.  It worked and now the good days far outweigh the bad.  Now you know why my blogging has been sparse, and there may not be a new post every day in the future.  I have realized that it is important to respect myself and my body and mind and do what I need to do.  I may put up 3 posts a week instead of 5.  Who knows. But I am removing self-imposed rules.  

I really don't know how Heather Armstrong at dooce.com did (and continues to do) it.  She went through an incredible emotional breakdown and now has 2 children, a thriving public life, and is able to keep blogging through any tough times.  Let me tell you, when I am feeling blue, the last thing I want to do is blog.  Write about the awfulness?  Be funny?  No thanks.  But the awfulness is less awful now, and I will resume blogging at a reasonable frequency.  I have a stash of photos to share with you and can't wait to get this going again.  Thanks for being my listening ears.  

Giveaway!

Well, Katie over at The Polka Dot Pig has done it again and created a cute new button over there on the sidebar.  The button links to my new Etsy shop that sells my photographs.  

In honor of this new button I am hosting a giveaway.  Here's how it works: a random person who clicks on the button (the one that says "My photography shop"), goes to the Etsy page, and leaves a comment back here on this post with the name of my Etsy shop will get an 8x10 picture of their choice.  They can choose from the photos in the shop, or one from the blog archives.  I will use a random number generator to choose which commenter will win.  Will it be #1?  #20?  We will just have to see.  So, click, check out the name, then comment.  It's that easy! You have until Wednesday June 9th to comment.  Good luck! 

(Oh, and if you have been having a hard time with my comment settings, I just changed them and it should be much easier for everyone to comment.)

****I HAVE CHANGED THE LAST DAY YOU CAN COMMENT.  YOU NOW HAVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT ON WEDNESDAY JUNE 9th! THEN THE WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON FRIDAY!***

Promises, Promises

I know I said that I would have some posts up soon, but I lied.  

I am going through some stuff right now, which makes the blog low on my priority list.  

You can help just by thinking of me and wishing me well.  

I sincerely value everyone who reads Adventures, so thank you.

My Blogiversary

One year ago today I started this blog.  Over 400 posts later I am still having fun and I hope you are too.  Since that first day I have blogged about monkeys and sheep and cows.  About children and new life and death.  About special needs and work and my commute. Grapes and the Napa Valley and hot air balloons. I blogged about glitter glue and kids quotes and my hamster.  I've mentioned birthdays, anniversaries and deathaversaries.  Since that first post I have changed the blog design, created a calendar, bought a new camera and lenses, traveled and blogged about it, broken my butt, welcomed new friends, grieved losses, witnessed joy and sorrow, laughed, lived and learned a lot.  

And I balanced quite a few things on Arrow's head.  Like my BlackBerry, pasta, TicTacs, hats, scarves, goggles, sunglasses, Vodka bottles, mustard bottles, flowers, hair bows, stuffed animals, flags, tennis balls, visors and once the hamster.  Not a good idea.

Thanks for taking this ride with me.  I look forward to starting my second blog year with you.

New Design

So, the new blog design is up and running! Take a look around.  Whadda ya think?

Let me point you in the direction of the new pretty button that says "Will blog for comments".
COMMENT YOU HEARTLESS SOUL SUCKING READERS!

A Recent Etsy Purchase

I bought these calling cards on Etsy recently and just had to share them.  The seller let me choose the artwork and placement to create a truly personalized card.  I just fell in love with her antique camera picture and decided to have it be the artwork for my card.  I had gotten tired of writing out the full blog address when people asked for it, so this is the perfect solution.  They cost $12.50 for 50 cards, so they are definitely reasonable.

Possibly The Cutest Blog Comment Ever

This is what The Lion had to say (as dictated to her Mommy) in the comment section of my video post of her dancing at the wedding.

"I love Meghan because she is so funny and she is silly and she is entertainment. She is so really funny and she gave pictures of me"

I'm sorry, but that is the cutest thing ever.  

Now I can put that on a t-shirt. Me? I'm entertainment.  

Strange Encounters At The Pharmacy

The Queen of Hearts went to the Pharmacy for me the other day to pick up my painkillers which allow my back to feel only slightly excruciating rather than EXCRUCIATING.

She came home and said "Boy, do I have a story for you". 

I immediately thought "Ooh!  Blog material!"

Because I'm just that big of a nerd.

This is the conversation that she had at the pharmacy with a man in his mid 40s:

We will call him WTF Guy.

WTF Guy: "Did you guys know that they caught Bin Laden?"

Queen of Hearts and Pharmacist: "No?! You're Kidding!"

QOH: "I didn't see it anywhere on the news or online"

 WTFG: "Yeah, they caught him, only he was disguised as the President of the United States".

Then, as if that was not weird enough:

WTFG: "Also, when Farrah Fawcett died, God said that she could have one wish and that it would come true since she had brought joy to so many people.  So she wished that all of the rapists and child molesters would be gone.  And then BOOM, Michael Jackson died".

Pharmacist: "That's not funny."

WTFG: "Maybe you just don't appreciate my sense of humor"

QOH: "It's not that we don't understand or appreciate it.  It's that it wasn't funny.  It was offensive"

WTFG: "Well, I have other less racy jokes".

QOH: "Again, it's not that it was racy.  It was offensive and made everyone in here uncomfortable."

QOH to Pharmacist: "Have a nice day".

Alrighty then.

Something A Little Different

Yesterday I herniated a disc in my lower back.

Yeah, yuck.

It happened at work while lifting one of the kiddos.

Since I am not feeling very well I decided to do a simple blog MeMe.

Yep, It's all about Me!

Here's one MeMe that is going around like the Herpely-Erpelies.

A - Age: 25

B - Bed Size: Queen

C - Chore You Hate: Unloading the dishwasher

D - Dog's Name: Arrow

E - Essential Start Your Day Item: A shower

F - Favorite Color: Pink

G - Gold or Silver: Silver

H - Height: 5'9"

I - I Am: On Vicodin right now

J - Job: Early Intervention

K - Kids: They fucked up my back

L - Living Arrangements: Currently all my living is done in a horizontal position thanks to my back

M - Mother's Name: The Queen of Hearts

N - Nicknames: Meg, Meggie, Meggers, Megonski, Nutmeg, Booger, Auntie Meg, the list goes on

O - Overnight Hospital Stays: Appendix surgery, Pancreatitis, many other overnights in the ER

P - Pet Peeve: Martha Stewart.  Everything Martha Stewart

Q - Quote From A Movie: "Surely you can't be serious" "I am serious.  And don't call me Shirley" - Airplane

R - Right Or Left Handed: Right

S - Siblings: None

T - Time You Wake Up: 5:45 am on weekdays.

U - Underwear: Own them and wear them.

V - Vegetable You Dislike: None.  I love all veggies.

W - Ways You Run Late: Getting stuck in traffic.

X - X Rays You've Had: both feet, left knee (also CT), tailbone, spine (also CT), head (also CT), both feet, right hand.

Y - Yummy Food You Make: Texas sheet cake, homemade pizza, eggplant parmesan.

Z - Zoo Favorite: Polar Bear.

Humbling

Recently I was looking through Google Analytics and was astounded by the number of places that this blog is read.  The sheer interconnectedness of this planet never fails to amaze me.  So here's the list.

Australia

Brazil

Canada

Hong Kong

India

Indonesia

Japan

Macau

Malaysia

Mexico

Nepal

Norway

Pakistan

Phillippines

Poland

Singapore

Sri Lanka

Taiwan

Thailand

United Arab Emirates

United Kingdom

Vietnam

USA: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wyoming.