"Begin at the Beginning..." --Lewis Carroll

So... here it is... my first official blog post! :)

Well... actually... once upon a time I had a Xanga account (circa 2005-2007).  Perhaps someday I will need to dust it off, and share some of my old posts over here.  At the very least, I'm sure my idea of blogging during my college years would be quite entertaining for all of you... or... at least, me!  But, that is another story for another blog post!  So much has changed since college... *sighs*... and almost every last bit of it has been FOR THE BETTER (to put it mildly)!

However, there's one thing that has not changed since college... actually, it hasn't changed since about 4th-6th grade:  I LOVE TO WRITE!  My love of writing was perhaps first ignited when I won 2nd place in a poetry contest for writing an acrostic poem about Sea Horses in 4th grade.  I think I won a dollar and a red ribbon for my pains.

Source: via Emily on Pinterest

"Dollah, dollah bill, yo!"

I felt like I was the coolest kid in town... especially since I did not even realize the poems were being judged.  Although, my surprise victory soon turned to pompousness when I read the 1st-prize-winning poem and thought to myself, "Pfft!  It doesn't even rhyme!"  Of course, this was back in the day when I thought all poems simply MUST rhyme... except for acrostic poems about Sea Horses that is... FACT:  THEY did NOT have to rhyme.

Anyway, after that first bite from the writing bug, I became intrigued to say the least, but the itch did not fully set in until sixth grade when I discovered that writing was an extremely effective (and FREE) form of therapy!  And... I have been writing ever since... albeit, much more sporadically these days.  You see, now that I'm kind of a grown-up and all, society kind of expects me to have this thing called a J-O-B (a three-letter swear word, if you ask me), so it leaves very little time to indulge in leisurely pastimes.

Source: someecards.com via Katharine on Pinterest

So, over the course of the past several years of almost non-existent writing, I have felt a tremendous void in my life!  Where had my passion gone!  I NEEDED to get back into my writing... not only for the sake of my own sanity (this IS my free version of therapy, after all), but also, for the sake of the sanity of those around me, as, when I cannot express my emotions freely, I tend to get a bit wacky/crabby.

However, I had pretty much come to terms with the fact that what my high school English teacher had once said was probably true.  I had told her that I wanted to become a teacher because, not only did I LOVE to learn, but I would have summers/holidays off to write (and be a mommy... someday)!  I thought I had it ALL planned out.  Then she responded by saying, "Yeah, that's what I used to think, too!  I always thought I would use my summers to write, and then, life and family happened."  That's a paraphrase, of course, but you get the idea:  dreams crushed!  But, I was determined!  I WOULD prove her wrong... I WOULD have my cake and eat it, too!  And... almost 10 years since that conversation... she seemed to be absolutely, disappointingly correct. :-(  I had always had big plans to become a published writer and do something truly amazing with my life... live on in my written word... and then... LIFE HAPPENED!  *sighs*  I began to think that maybe my teacher had been right after all.  Maybe it was a fool's dream to think that I, little ol' Katharine, from Rural Town, Pennsylvania, could ever become a writer.

Then, inspiration came, at the time it was most needed, in the form of a friend's blog.  Let me introduce you to my amazing friend Kristin, whom I had met and befriended in college because we were both in the Elementary Education program at Penn State and we were both OBSESSED with The Office.  We also bonded over the fact that she is Kristin with two i's and I am Katharine with two a's, and lazy, dumb people are ALWAYS and FOREVER spelling our names wrong... even when they have the correct spelling right in front of their stupid faces!

Source: google.sk via Katharine on Pinterest

True Life

So, anyway, one day I noticed that Kristin was posting links on her Facebook page that led to her super, awesome, amazing, hysterical, deliciously sarcastic blog!  So, naturally, I started reading these posts and soon became an avid follower of her words!

Check her blog out here:

"Do it!  Now!" --in Arnold Schwarzenegger voice
Now, Kristin is also a full-time school teacher and full-time wife (an Army wife to be exact... she deserves some extra love for that!), so if she can make time to write a blog, what's my excuse, right?  RIGHT?!  Well, Kristin is a bit better at functioning as an adult than I am (she might argue to the contrary, but TRUST ME, she is!), so she gives me something to aspire to!  She cooks, she bakes, she teaches, she blogs, she crafts, SHE DOES IT ALL!  And most of all... SHE INSPIRES ME, EVERY DAY!  It is thanks to her encouragement (and the encouragement of several other awesome friends) that I decided that, not only COULD I blog, but I HAD to blog.  Writing is in my DNA!  Not that I'm the greatest writer, or the most interesting writer, but I am a writer who needs her writing to provide some sort of outlet/connection to the world around her!  So... blogging it is!
Now, I have NO CLUE what this blog is or what it will become, and I truly apologize that this introductory post is so TERRIBLY long, but if you can bear with me, I can promise you one thing:  it will NOT be boring!  My life might not be the coolest or most exciting, but it is certainly far from boring either!  I've been told that I have a gift for storytelling, so I guess we will find out...

Maybe, starting this blog might even inspire me to finally begin writing that novel that's been hiding in the back of my brain for over a decade now... just maybe!  Perhaps I CAN have my cake and eat it, too (or, you know, work AND write if you want to be literal)... perhaps!  Anyway, it's worth a shot, right? So, thank you, Kristin, from the bottom of my heart!  Writing this first post has been very cathartic, so I can only imagine the true bliss that is to come from letting my thoughts flow freely and having a blogosphere of supporters (hopefully)!  And, to the rest of you reading this (all 3 or 4 of you... just kidding... maybe), thank you, too, for putting up with my ramblings and struggling to find some way to harvest some cheap entertainment from my cheap therapy!  TRULY AND SINCERELY!  THANK YOU FOR INDULGING ME!  You make me feel like I might be able to fulfill my dream of becoming a writer yet.  Someday... someday... Until then, ENJOY! :-)

Source: 3.bp.blogspot.com via Kristen on Pinterest