31 Days of May Blogging Challenge

I came across this blog post last week and was intrigued. May Blogging Challenge

Part of her reasoning for doing this is that the pressure of writting every day, helps knock out the pressure of having posts be totally perfect - and trying just to write. I'm excited by that thought. I love the actual writing involved in blogging.

She says, "I want to get back to the basics. You know, the writing stuff. I don't know about you, but I miss my English classes in school where we were given a topic and told to run with it. Something I may have never had the motivation to write about before, but wound up really enjoying once I got started. Do you remember that? We bloggers feel a lot of pressure to write something "cool" and funny and relatable and enjoyable, and that's GREAT, but sometimes the pressure can be too much and so we don't write at all. "

So to do this she's set out some guidelines and set out some post topics for the month. Now I'm not sure if I'll follow along on all of them, but I like having those parameters. 

So, here are her rules:

1. There really aren't any rules. If you miss a day, you can make it up or skip it. The blog police will not come knocking.

2. I will be including a linkup option at the bottom of my post each day, so you are welcome to leave your links here for others to peruse, as well. 

3. You can still post other things every day, too. I plan to do normal outfit posts, life posts, around-Austin posts, and sponsor posts just like usual.

4. I'd seriously love you if you also include the "blog every day in May" button (below) either on your sidebar or at the end of your posts, but again, the blog police will not come knocking. My main goal here is to get us all back to the basics of blogging, not to gain a million new readers (though I wouldn't mind that). 

Here are her topics. 
You can be as creative and awesome or as boring and bland as you like with these. Take 'em and run with it. Use creative post titles. Interpret each "prompt" however you like. There's no wrong way to do it. Have fun.

Day 1, Wednesday: The story of your life in 250 words or less (or one paragraph... no one will be counting your words... probably)
Day 2, Thursday: Educate us on something you know alot about or are good at. Take any approach you'd like (serious and educational or funny and sarcastic)
Day 3, Friday: Things that make you uncomfortable
Day 4, Saturday: Favorite quote (from a person, from a book, etc) and why you love it
Day 5, Sunday: Publicly profess your love and devotion for one of your blogger friends. What makes them great? Why do you love them? If you don't have blogger friends, talk about a real-life friend or even a family member
Day 6, Monday: If you couldn't answer with your job, how would you answer the question, 'what do you do'?
Day 7, Tuesday: The thing(s) you're most afraid of
Day 8, Wednesday: A piece of advice you have for others. Anything at all.
Day 9, Thursday: A moment in your day (this can be just a photo or both a photo and words)
Day 10, Friday: Most embarrassing moment (s). Spill. 
Day 11, Saturday: Sell yourself in 10 words words or less
Day 12, Sunday: What do you miss? (a person, a thing, a place, a time of your life...)
Day 13, Monday: Issue a public apology. This can be as funny or as serious or as creative as you want it to be.
Day 14, Tuesday: Ten things that make you really happy
Day 15, Wednesday: A Day in the life (include photos from throughout your typical day - this could be "a photo an hour" if you'd like)
Day 16, Thursday: Something difficult about your "lot in life" and how you're working to overcome it
Day 17, Friday: A favorite photo of yourself and why
Day 18, Saturday: Tell a story from your childhood. Dig deep and try to be descriptive about what you remember and how you felt.
Day 19, Sunday: Five of your favorite blogs and what you love about them
Day 20, Monday: Get real. Share something you're struggling with right now.
Day 21, Tuesday: A list of links to your favorite posts in your archives
Day 22, Wednesday: Rant about something. Get up on your soapbox and tell us how you really feel. (a pet peeve, a current event, a controversial topic, something your husband or roommate or neighbor or boss does that really ticks you off)
Day 23, Thursday: Things you've learned that school won't teach you
Day 24, Friday: Your top 3 worst traits
Day 25, Saturday: Something someone told you about yourself that you'll never forget (good or bad)
Day 26, Sunday: Something you read online. Leave a link and discuss, if you'd like.
Day 27, Monday: A letter to your readers
Day 28, Tuesday: Only pictures
Day 29, Wednesday: Five songs or pieces of music that speak to you or bring back memories. Use Grooveshark or YouTube to include them in the post
Day 30, Thursday: React to this term: Letting Go
Day 31, Friday: A vivid memory

And with that - I'll start...
Day 1, Wednesday: The story of your life in 250 words or less [I used 249!]

I was raised in a small town on Vancouver Island, in a loving, supportive family. While I strugged to have friends in school my family helped fill that gap. School was, over the years, initially hard for me and then eventually something I came to really enjoy. Relationships were similar – but when I was in Junior High I found friends at youth group, and in High School I started to have lots of friends. By the time I hit college, relationships were something I enjoyed so much. But I found that relationships could still be hard, and I was at a place that was far from God, and was trying to live my life on my terms – which mostly meant trying to be whoever I needed to be to be liked in a given moment. Fairly exhausting. My family continued to be a safe haven for me – they loved and accepted me as I was and this felt great – and made me wonder what was different about them. I realized it was their relationship with God, and in my heart I knew that I needed and wanted that. That choice shaped the rest of my life – I moved to Vancouver for church and family, I have chosen jobs based on what God is calling me to do, and through church have found my wonderful husband. We live a busy and full life – filled with  friends and family, food and drinks, games and crafts, adventures and rest. It is good.