Then and now

I started my first blog ten years ago, and I was a dedicated blogger for the first six years I lived Japan. It all started as a way to share my adventures overseas with my friends and family at home, and get my mom's input on my knitting projects. I never expected that people who didn't already know me would be interested in what I was writing, but I was surprised to make many new friends through my blogs in addition to everyone I knew at home.

After moving to Tokyo for a new job, I traveled a lot and what little free time I had was spent exploring new hobbies rather than posting to my blogs. As my posts were slowing to a trickle, I missed a notice from my blog hosting domain and my blog disappeared into an online poof of smoke. Just like that! All my years of goofy posts were gone in a flash.

I was so upset! The content of my blog posts was intact in html form, but I didn't have the time or energy to reconstruct my blog online, so I took it as a sign. I wished for a way to get in touch with my readers about my site's untimely end, but just reached out with a few personal emails and moved on. Luckily, I could stay in touch with many friends over the years and have recently been reunited with others through social media these past few years as well.

Looking at the photos above, it doesn't seem like a whole lot has changed. I can't believe how much time has passed since my first post in 2004, but I'm happy to be back online again for a lot of the same reasons I started blogging in the first place.