A letter to you

Dear Readers,

I know, this is a little hokey. But I just got home from another Haven Conference and there was a lot of reminiscing going on about the old days. I'm feeling all hokey and nostalgic today. I reconnected with a lot of "old" bloggers as well as new and it was so fun to talk about the path we have traveled with this blog thing.

When I started a blog for friends and family more than eight years ago I could never ever have imagined that this would be blessing my life like it does. Never. Back then I had an 18-month-old and had quit my professional marketing career. I was decorating other people's homes part time and then when some of you started finding me…I was hooked.

I fell into this but have never lost sight of how incredible it is. Now look at blogging -- it has EXPLODED. It's mind boggling, right? You can find a blog for just about anything now. Us old blogging fogies do miss the days of crazy intense traffic and hundreds of comments on a post with two pictures on it. We laugh about how every one of us used a flash and ALL of our photos were taken at night. OH, and all of our houses were dark brown, gold and red. (Look back, it's pretty funny.)

Things have changed a lot, as they should. I do feel like I need to be a little more professional now, even in the way I write. It's not as casual as it used to be, but still I refuse to get too serious with this. Blogging turned into a career so I've tried to get some control of my excessive use of smiley faces and explanation points. ;) !! But I hope above anything and everything that you feel at home here, enjoy yourself and get inspired. I want you to leave this blog in a better mood than you came to it -- just like if you were walking into my home.

More than anything, anything, I've done in the years of blogging, I cherish the connections I've made with you and other bloggers most. It has rocked my world that such a big Internet can feel so intimate and close.

I don't feel like I thank you enough so that's what I'm doing today. I am thankful for each one of you. Thankful to those that have followed along through my spray-paint-everything-black phases or when I was an idiot and had a gaping hole in my house or when we paid off $125K in debt and you were all so amazing. You have added so much joy to my life and I really can't thank you enough.

I don't change up what I blog about much, but I have decided to bring back some posts on blogging. I have gotten away from that and I'm not sure why -- I guess I want to appeal to the masses. But I know SO many of you are interested in blogging so I want to share more of what I've learned along the way. But otherwise I am content with what I share here. Every post isn't going to blow your mind but the in between stuff is what I believe builds the most connections.

So there you go…a thank you from me. Didn't mean to go all syrupy on you this Monday but this was on my my mind and in my heart. I'm thankful and I appreciate that you come back.

Love always,
Sarah


P.S. I'll be back this week with some DIY for you. ;) (!!)