I had noticed I was getting close last week.
Goodness!
Five hundred posts!
This is either a celebration or a good reason to step. away. from the. computer.
But this post marks my 500th on Tiaras & Tantrums.

When I first started my blog I wanted to post pictures of my baking, my kids, quotes that I love and just everyday antics that occur in my house. As I discovered more and more fantastic cooking and amazing baking blogs, I was actually embarrassed to think that anyone would want to see my homemade cupcakes ( I am giggling over this now). I have evolved to what T&T is today. Just me and my kids mostly, some baking and cooking still thrown in there

Anyway I've decided to look back and smile at some of the things we've been through together during the last 499 posts. That is, at least those times you decided to show up. When you had nothing better to do. And I want to thank each and every one of you for the appreciative and so often responsive reading you've given my posts.

Memorable among my posts are Moving to and Living In China, memories of long-ago nightmares of my attempt at Super Nanny Theories, deep delving into my past about my son's inability to speak, the lovely memory of baby girl's birth and memories of my mother and my father. There are moments of discovery, crazy moments, and loads of I ♥ Faces entries(seriously, will I ever win). There have been moments of unbearable sadness, although you learn to bear them, moments of great passion that lurk under the surface but do not make it to the blogging page. There have been great reunions , a handful of blogs of note (via AuthorBlog) and the power of praise. Oh, and always, always, remember your bloggy manners.

Most of all this blog has provided me with a better sense of myself. Prior to blogging, I was floundering a bit at home. I knew my role as mother and wife, but where had my identity gone? I did not have close contact with friends any longer. I did not have daily contact with colleagues any longer. I had small children and my husband and my brothers. I focused on my children 100% and forgot to take care of my mental health.

I needed to be stimulated by other women ... by words, by relationships, by humor, by sorrow, by love. I found myself again through blogging and I have become much happier. I smile more, I am stimulated to be more active, I am excited for new tasks and adventures with my children and most importantly, I like that blogging has renewed my interest in so many things that I had forgotten that I loved.

Lastly, I admit, blogging is a guilty pleasure for me. What did my life look like in words? Not always the way it looked like in the living. Happier, funnier, more intense. But always entertaining.