As I shared in my last post, these are days of waiting and sitting in the in-between. I haven’t moved into my new home yet, and my old home is mostly boxed up. There are still a couple of weeks to go while all the paperwork gets filed with the title company, etc, etc. It’s a weird space to be in, and I sometimes need to remind myself to stay present, to enjoy the here and now. But occasionally, it’s good to look back—especially when preparing to move forward.

The other day I was skimming through old photos and I came across some images that I’d used as “blog banners” for past iterations of this space. For fifteen years now, I’ve been writing online. Just for fun, I thought I’d share a peek into the past with my online writing journey and how I arrived where I am today.

My first experience with blogging started in 2007 when I lived in Wenatchee. My kids were little and it was the early days of blogging. My blog was called Renaissance Mama, a place where I wrote about homeschooling, Waldorf education, and family life. It was casual and fun. I did it for the love of writing, photography, and connection. I met some other mom bloggers online during that time who I’m still in touch with today. It was a really sweet time.

When I moved to Seattle in December of 2009, I changed the name of the blog to Postcards from Seattle. During this time, I began writing about fun activities for kids to do in the Seattle area. This opened up some wonderful opportunities, mostly in the form of swag and invites to special events in exchange for sharing reviews. This was when the idea of writing as an actual job began to take shape for me. But as my kids grew older, and wanted more privacy, I knew Postcards from Seattle wasn’t something that could continue. I made the choice to turn some of those posts into a book, for just our family, and then I took them offline.

In 2015, I began a new blog called Above the Waves. This was a place where I shared ideas from my Christian faith. My first book, Look to Jesus: How to Let Go of Worry and Trust God, sprang out of this. I loved writing and connecting with people in this way. These posts are still in the archives of this blog. There is one post from this period that seemed to resonate most strongly with people. To this day, it brings about 90% of the traffic that comes to this website: How to Quiet Your Mind So You Can Hear from God.

Then I became drawn to the power of story as a means to connect with people and communicate truth in a different way. I began work on my Historic Hotels Collection. Blog writing took a backseat as my time was consumed with offline writing. Publishing these books was a dream come true and I hope to write many more.

That brings us to the present. I’ve been dipping my toe back into the blogging world in a way that feels full circle. I’m returning to Wenatchee—where I started—and I’m returning to a more casual approach to online writing. Blogging is, once again, simply a way for me to share what’s going on in my life. No rules. No pressure.

I’m appreciative of the journey online writing has taken me on, what I’ve learned, and where it has led me. Some of you have been with me the whole way, and some of you are new. I just want to say to all of you….you’re the best!

Looking Back