{"id":4937,"date":"2014-04-04T00:43:18","date_gmt":"2014-04-04T07:43:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/coffeejitters.net\/blog\/?p=4937"},"modified":"2021-03-17T18:54:58","modified_gmt":"2021-03-18T01:54:58","slug":"ultimate-blog-party-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/coffeejitters.net\/blog\/2014\/04\/04\/ultimate-blog-party-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Ultimate Blog Party 2014 – Why I Blog"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>
\nI look forward to the Ultimate Blog Party<\/a> every year. I love making new connections, and I make a few new friends each time around.<\/p>\n

I started my first blog in 2001, and this one has been going since 2004. That’s a decade. It’s hard, at times, not to compare myself to the celebrity bloggers, and wonder why I haven’t hit the big time. But their stories are not mine, and my story is not theirs.<\/p>\n

So, what is my story?<\/h2>\n

The answer to that question is continuously evolving. Right now, I am the mother of a 5 year old, wife of a 38 year old, former cancer patient in the midst of reconstruction, and a full-time college student who will, if everything goes right and I actually pass these classes, graduate in 6 weeks with a Bachelors degree in social sciences.<\/p>\n

Blogging hasn’t been my top priority lately.<\/p>\n

But I love blogging. I cherish the friendships I made through this medium. I cherish the product, this collection of stories, that resulted from these years at this blog. I didn’t start out with this intent, but when the reality of my own mortality was shoved in my face, I was comforted with the knowledge that I had at least something of myself to leave behind for my then infant daughter. I don’t plan on dying any time soon, but that idea stays with me as I write. So in the 4 years since my cancer diagnosis, this blog has become something more. It is a love letter, to my daughter, to my husband, my friends, the world, to life itself.<\/p>\n

Want to know more?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Here are a few posts to get you started:<\/p>\n

Cancerversary<\/a> – thoughts on the anniversary of my cancer diagnosis, and my life right now.<\/p>\n

The Camera Bag \u2013 and an epiphany<\/a>\u00a0 on photography and being the recipient of a random act of kindness<\/p>\n

A relearning how to dream after cancer blog<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 Cancer trauma is more than physical<\/p>\n

Bloggers at Work<\/a>\u00a0– a day in the life of a Mommy Blogger<\/p>\n

Living in the Gap<\/a> – “We don\u2019t get practice time, and then go out and live our lives after we\u2019ve perfected ourselves. We go out and try things, see if they work, we fall down, we get up, we embarrass ourselves, we don\u2019t die of embarrassment \u2013 but we don\u2019t get to practice life without an audience.”<\/p>\n

Just Breathe<\/a> – \u00a0“As long as you have breath, you have this moment.”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let’s Connect<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/a> . \"\"<\/span><\/a> . \"\"<\/span><\/a> . \"\"<\/span><\/a> . \"\"<\/span><\/a>\u00a0.\u00a0\"\"<\/span><\/a> . \"\"<\/span><\/a> . \"\"<\/span> . \"\"<\/span> . \"\"<\/span><\/a><\/span>
\n\"Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I love blogging. I cherish the friendships I made through this medium. I cherish the product, this collection of stories, that resulted from these years at this blog. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[763,770],"tags":[490,661,601,489],"class_list":["post-4937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-creating-a-living","category-writing-blogging","tag-5-minutes-for-mom","tag-business-of-blogging","tag-ubp","tag-ultimate-blog-party","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeejitters.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/ultimate-blog-party-2014.png?fit=600%2C300","blog_post_layout_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeejitters.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/ultimate-blog-party-2014.png?resize=150%2C150",150,150,true],"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeejitters.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/ultimate-blog-party-2014.png?fit=600%2C300",600,300,false]},"categories_names":{"763":{"name":"Creating a Living","link":"http:\/\/coffeejitters.net\/blog\/category\/creating-a-living\/"},"770":{"name":"Writing & Blogging","link":"http:\/\/coffeejitters.net\/blog\/category\/creating-a-living\/writing-blogging\/"}},"tags_names":{"490":{"name":"5 minutes for mom","link":"http:\/\/coffeejitters.net\/blog\/tag\/5-minutes-for-mom\/"},"661":{"name":"Business of Blogging","link":"http:\/\/coffeejitters.net\/blog\/tag\/business-of-blogging\/"},"601":{"name":"ubp","link":"http:\/\/coffeejitters.net\/blog\/tag\/ubp\/"},"489":{"name":"ultimate blog party","link":"http:\/\/coffeejitters.net\/blog\/tag\/ultimate-blog-party\/"}},"comments_number":0,"wpmagazine_modules_lite_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeejitters.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/ultimate-blog-party-2014.png?resize=150%2C150",150,150,true],"cvmm-medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeejitters.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/ultimate-blog-party-2014.png?resize=300%2C300",300,300,true],"cvmm-medium-plus":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeejitters.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/ultimate-blog-party-2014.png?resize=305%2C207",305,207,true],"cvmm-portrait":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeejitters.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/ultimate-blog-party-2014.png?resize=400%2C300",400,300,true],"cvmm-medium-square":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeejitters.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/ultimate-blog-party-2014.png?resize=600%2C300",600,300,true],"cvmm-large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeejitters.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/ultimate-blog-party-2014.png?resize=600%2C300",600,300,true],"cvmm-small":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeejitters.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/ultimate-blog-party-2014.png?resize=130%2C95",130,95,true],"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/coffeejitters.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/ultimate-blog-party-2014.png?fit=600%2C300",600,300,false]},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1fDeG-1hD","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12673,"url":"http:\/\/coffeejitters.net\/blog\/2025\/12\/16\/sorry-for-all-the-weird-blog-posts\/","url_meta":{"origin":4937,"position":0},"title":"Sorry for all the weird blog posts","author":"Judy Schwartz Haley","date":"","format":false,"excerpt":"Hi friends, You may have recently had your inbox fill with jibberish posts from my blog. 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