To blog or not to blog?

THAT is the question.

When I first started my blog a few years ago I thought long and hard about wether or not to do it. I really liked the idea of having an instant way to share my pictures and stories of my family that is much easier and more accessible than scrapbooking. I'm not a great journal keeper but I could do this. I also like that it was a great way to keep extended family, especially grandparents, and far away friends in the loop. Another plus was that it is creative outlet for me because it is so hard to spend hours scrapbooking with little kids around. So, why not, it all sounds great, right?

Well, the drawback for me was that I didn't really want one more thing to be "behind on". One more thing to feel guilty about. One more obligation.

That's how I have felt the past year while I have gotten more and more behind.

Why can't I have a blog and just post when I feel like and what I feel like?

Because I am slightly OCD. For reals. It runs in the family. It's not so bad that I can't leave the house, but it is bad enough to make a simple thing like a blog challenging. You see, I have this need to post chronologically and to not miss any events. There is one event from 2 summers ago that I skipped and meant to go back to that still floats around in the back of my head. There is a cute video of my kids skiing I've been meaning to add to the skiing post for a year in a half that I have written on my to do list every week... for the last 18 months. I have a list of about 5 tags that I feel guilty about not responding to. I also need to send my gifts and post about my pay it forward thing that is waaaay overdue. It's like I can't post anything new unless I go back and do all the post that I missed.

I have friends with brilliant blogs that are completely random, often with pictures that don't match the post, that are heartwarming, funny, entertaining and perfect. I often wonder why I can't blog like that. Mostly because there is so much freedom in them, but also because they are so honest in their writing. They preserve thoughts, feelings, true stories, emotions. My blog has been more of a travelog... "this is where we went" "this is what we did"... blah, blah, blah.

So, in answer to the question, I have decided TO BLOG. I am not going to set any unreachable goal about getting "caught up" (although it literally makes me sick to my stomach to think of all the fun things that may never make it to the blog), I am just going to start. I am going to try to write more freely about who we are, how we feel and our relationships with each other and less about where we go and what we do (although that will still be here, I'm sure). And, of course, lots of pictures. I'll try to get to a few of the big things I missed if and when I feel like it... no pressure. Right?

So there you have it. I've missed my blog and have enjoyed staying caught up on all of yours. I'm excited to have this outlet again and hope you will all follow along and leave me some comment love =)

(PS. When Max saw that I was posting he said I should apologize to you all for not blogging for an entire year... funny!)