Today marks the first anniversary of the day I began blogging. I started “Life in the Slow Lane” at the suggestion of my youngest son, Ben. You can read all about it HERE.

Choosing a title was easy, since LBeau is notorious for driving in the slow lane. That first post was one of many I have done with LBeau as the main character. In fact, at first my three boys were so enthusiastic about writing LBeau stories that they promised to become contributors. It didn’t happen, so I’ve been going it alone.

For a long time my only readers were family members and a few friends. My niece Mandy was the first person to post a comment when she welcomed me to blogging on my very first post. My friend NICK was the first person to “officially” become a follower.

One day my sister-in-law Susie passed on a link to her friend LAURIE’S BLOG. And there I discovered the world of Metamorphosis Monday, Outdoor Wednesday, Wordless Wednesday, What’s on Your Wall Wednesday (Wednesday was a busy day), Tablescape Thursday, Foodie Friday, Pink Saturday and Sunday Favorites.

My very first meme was for Wordless Wednesday on February 18, 2009. All of a sudden I went from two or three comments to 11. Wow, there are people out there who will actually read what I have to say.

Along the way, I’ve written about friends and family, birthdays and weddings, growing up in a small town in a different era, and whatever else strikes my fancy. I’ve also picked up followers—77 of them in fact.

I thought I might reach 200 posts by the end of my first year. I didn’t quite make it. This is post number 199.

I’ve been trying to think of something I can give away as a thank you to my readers. One of the things I’ve enjoyed most about my blog is tweaking the look to make it unique. At some point I discovered the cute free backgrounds that are available on The Cutest Blog on the Block and other places. I tried one of those for a while, but then I decided I wanted to make my own background.

So if anyone out there is interested, I am giving away a new blog background just for you. Just let me know via your comment that you would be interested (you can comment anyway, even if you aren't interested). You don’t even have to promise to use it. And please keep in mind that I’m not a professional. After a week, I’ll randomly draw one blogger for the free background.

And thanks again for reading.

Joy at Cupid’s Charm is hosting a Blog Party about blogging. She invited us to write about why we love blogging. What a great idea. When you’re through here, be sure to head on over to Cupid’s Charm to read about what inspires others to blog.

I’ve always loved to write. My major at the University of Arkansas was English and Journalism, and I taught high school for 15 years. During that time I was the advisor to a number of award winning high school publications. It was a great outlet for my creative juices, and it was so rewarding to help students bring an idea to fruition. I’ve even had several former students go on to successful careers in journalism.

I “retired” from teaching in 1984 when we moved from Little Rock to Texarkana. At that point, I channeled my creative side into a craft shop that I owned with a friend. There we taught decorative painting on everything from wood to fabric. Later when we moved to Birmingham I found another outlet when I began building and remodeling houses.

However, that itch to write remained. So when our youngest son Ben suggested that I start a blog, I needed no further encouragement. In fact, my first blog entry in August, 2008, which you can read HERE, was about how my blog started.

Our youngest son Ben, who prompted me to start my blog, followed in his mom’s footsteps and majored in journalism at the University of Arkansas. As a student, he was editor of The Traveler, the school newspaper.

For a long time, the only readers on my blog were friends and family. I was dying for more people to “discover” me. It was through Laurie, who is a friend of my sister-in-law Susie, that I found a way to direct traffic to my blog. Until I “met” Laurie, I had never heard of a Meme. Now I have a whole new group of friends and 43 followers instead of just three. Some day I hope to meet some of you for real.

So that’s my story. What’s yours?