The Blog Evolution... or something like that.

My blog is evolving. I’m sure you all have noticed it. It’s transforming… spiraling out of control? Well, I might be a little dramatic, but hey, that’s what you get with me sometimes.

I started my blog at the encouragement of a wonderful friend. She inspired me by starting a blog about her children, their journey through life, and the ups and downs of parenting. I had been struggling to keep up with updates to friends and family who live out of town, scrap booking  about the kids’ different stages of lives, keeping up with baby books, and trying to keep my thoughts straight about how I felt about many things. Heck, I would have been happy if I could have just had photos printed before they were a year outdated. I wanted a place to air my ideas and thoughts, vent about crazy things that happen, and, well, you get the idea. So, Life with the Ootens was born.

I have sporadically updated it, trying to keep up with life and post about how we are handling different stages of our lives. I’ve posted daily for weeks and then spent months away from the blog, avoiding it entirely because I had too much to say. Until recently…

I can’t quite pinpoint what happened to make me decide that I wanted to live life a little differently. I could reel off a hundred different things that played a role in my decision to live by a “list,” but that would take a while. It’s easier to just say that I needed to do something new and set some goals. So, as you all know, I created my list.

Now, I’m at a point where I’m trying to decide how to reorganize my blog accordingly, so you might see some changes in the very near future. I’m pretty excited about it. No worries though… I won’t be losing any of the aspects of my parenting and updates on the kids. And, I will most definitely be posting about my list, my life, and all the struggles and successes that go along with it. After all, it is a blog about Life with the Ootens, as hectic as that might be. J I had contemplated separating my blogs into a family blog and a list blog, but it just doesn’t come naturally. There is no way to separate my life into neat little segments, no matter how OCD I am. The kids are definitely a huge factor in why I want to accomplish so many of the things on my list. It is important for me to be their mom (number 1), but more important for me to have an identity other than just their mom. So, it will remain one blog.  Sidebar – the idea that me being more than a mom to my kids is already taking hold. I am already seeing positive response from that with Bailey. She thinks I’m incredibly cool because I’ve been running. J She told my mom all about how I have been training really hard. So cute.

There are more things that I want to write about this whole blog evolution (as I am proclaiming it). One of the biggest reasons that I started this is because I wanted more from my life… wanted to help others… wanted to be on a mission to help my friends, my family, and myself to live the fullest life possible. You simply cannot imagine how happy I am that my very best friend in the world tells me this morning that she’s been working on her list... and she reads it to me. None of you understand what it means to me that you even read my rambling blog posts, much less to think that they actually impact your lives in the slightest way. She’s not the only person out there that’s made me feel like I am doing more than just egotistically rambling about how I want my life to be and what I want to accomplish (as if everyone in the world really wants to know). Another friend confided that she is contemplating her own run in the fall. Another friend is working on the soundtrack of her life (and I fully expect a blog to come from that – hint, hint). I keep getting wonderfully positive e-mails from you guys. You all inspire me to want to keep doing this. You guys keep telling me things on your list and I know that I’m never going to completely finish a list because you remind me of things that I’ve always wanted to do that aren’t on my list. Lol. 


All of you readers (I think there are three of you – just kidding) out there are making me so happy. I can’t wait to open my e-mail after I’ve blogged something. I hear you all encouraging me and it makes me smile. But, I have to say that what is making me happier is hearing about your different goals and “list” items that you are doing. It’s funny that some of you are worried that I’ll think you are “copying” me by doing things on your list. DON’T! I’m not listing these things so that no one else can do it. In fact, I think that might just be what I love the most about my blog in its new stages... I am finding common ground with people that I didn't even realized I shared with them. I am hearing fun stories about things they've done that are on my list or hearing about how I definitely need to make parasailing a priority for this summer because it really is that awesome. I think we all have a list that we have kept mentally. Most of us have never written it down or made it public. Most of us change it frequently, without even meaning to. If my list helps you mark things off your list, or even begin to keep your list, go for it! I would feel honored that anything I have done or will do could have a positive impact on someone else. But, please, I beg you… share, even if it’s only with me and you don’t want me to tell anyone. Because, THAT is what is keeping me inspired… that and my kids, my husband, blah, blah, blah. 


The list goes on… Literally.