HEAVENS TO MURGATROIDS!!! It was my 1st BLOGIVERSARY!!! And I TOTALLY missed it. I'm like a guy that way.

AAARRRRRRAGGGGGHHHHHH! ~pulling out hair~

I can't believe I just blazed past the fact that I've been blogging for one year!!!(And 6 days)

About a month ago I noticed it was coming up and thought,"OOOOO! I have great ideas for THIS!". Well, FAB! Now I don't have a lot of time to devote to it! I feel vomity and have the chills. Poor Lo has a fever. And...well...SHITE.

So with my spare moments, let's have a little look-see into the past year of MOUNTAIN PULSE. My blog began with the First Post, "The Beginning". I presented the purpose of this blog from a homeschoolish Waldorf perspective. But there were also other reasons for my taking up The Blog. I had a desire to share with people the breathtaking Alaskan world that surrounds me as well as the oftentimes exciting lifestyle we lead. On a more personal note, years ago I read a book called The Artist's Way. It's full of great resources and exercises for taping into or energizing one's latent creativity. One of the most integral exercises in the book is the Daily 3 Pages. Upon waking in the morning you write 3 pages of whatever comes to mind. The idea being that stream of consciousness writing will spark a creative awaking. I always had trouble staying committed to writing these morning pages. Blogging has been the only way, so far, that I have had some semblance of writing consistency. I don't blog every day, and my writing here has more purpose than just stream of consciousness, but it has gotten the juices flowing. It has also given me some focus to hone my writing skills.

(Thumbnails of past Mountain Pulse "fashion", the Origional and the Improved)

I had another blog going -Fluxgraphia-at the time I started writing this one. That one was more of a forum to vent about life-mostly my experiences with Attention Deficit Disorder-and to re-access and let loose the raw humor that I have tripping around inside me. Then, days after Sarah Palin was chosen for McInane's running mate, I decided to launch my political blog WE'RE NOT THAT STUPID to have a place to rant and rave about the jackassery that is Sarah Palin. I didn't want to taint and offend the "mommy blog" crowd. It wasn't long before I started to feel like I had multiple personality disorder with the 3 blogs. I also felt like I was no longer being true to who I am and what I wanted to experience with Lo by gearing our activities and blogging about them according to what I thought my readers might want to see. As much as I love to offer people something new or insightful, if it wasn't coming from me and my kid's own interests then I was just wasting my precious time. So I put and end to Fluxgraphia and moved most of those posts over here. I informed my readers that I was reverting back to the "real" me, hoped they could handle it and that they would stick around regardless. I still feel the need for further tweaking and revisiting my intentions with this blog but I'm happier with the way things are going now.

So this post will be my 207th and so far, I've had 14,451 visits. Poppy & Mei was my first visitor! That 1st post was just a test post and I deleted it-but I do remember her saying,"Hurry up and post! I can't wait!" A sweet intro to the friendly blogoshpere! Looking back at my first year Site Meter Stats, I can see which posts have gotten the most hits. By far the most popular post was Transitioning Through Walls of Lazure, a post on my experience with Lazure painting on the walls of our Waldorf school. I still get emails asking for more details so I will have to update that one!

2 of my next popular posts stand out a bit-I was surprised at first that they had so many hits but it didn't take long for me to realize why this one attracted attention! Perhaps because the title contained the words HOT, STEAMY and HEDONISM! (A post recounting our Anniversary dinner/date. Most of the "excitement" was about food!) Looks like a lot of people out there Googling from the bowels of their basement got the wrong idea!

The other one, New Years Eve, was just a meme for the new year. Not sure what the draw was there! I like an occasional meme if it's unique and fun to answer, and they can be a fun way to get to know a fellow blogger....but those blogs out there that are totally meme oriented, all linking to each other, every day another meme-WEIRD. How self absorbed can we get? I'd love to see "What's on your fridge?!" but I really don't care what kind of shoes you have on or who the last person who called your cell was! I had a Monday "Memeday" thing going for awhile. Some of those memes I found were so original, insightful, and/or a homage to something, but a couple were kinda dumb. I recommend clicking on my MEME label to see some of those interesting ones!

Fishing on the Russian River was #4. This was quite a multifaceted post showcasing Alaska, fishing, bear encounters, crafts, family and friends.

The rest of my most popular posts revolve around crafts-especially ones that have been featured on craft collective sites like Crafty Crow:

BUTTERFLIES a la ALEXANDER CALDER

Native American Dice

WOOD UNIT BLOCKS...Easy-n-cheap!!!!!

Penguins. OPUS would be proud....Recipe Thursday

Angels

LADYBUG, LADYBUG

When looking back at the posts that received the most comments, my politically bent ones stand out-but they were transferred over to WE'RE NOT THAT STUPID . The next top three: LADYBUG, LADYBUG above. A sweat summer craft that became quite the controversial post. Many agreed with my sentiment on stay-at-home motherhood,"How could someone pay another person to get the honor and pleasure of experiencing these things -and many of the other great milestones and discoveries?!?! I was once one of those paid people. Those mommies and daddies have no idea what they missed...", but some took offense. I still stand by what I said, but did clarify a little more in the comments that I do take into consideration people's extenuating circumstances.)

DA BEARZ-wherein I describe last summer's bear infestation and how I accidentally blasted my kid with Bear (pepper) Spray!

And, a post asking for fashion advice!

This first year in blogging has been a great time for me. Perhaps in the next week or so I'll do more of a round up of this past years stuff. To quote an older post of mine,"Thank you!!! As much as I enjoy blogging and documenting my experiences, it IS really nice to know that somehow I may be contributing something special to others. Lordy knows, I've gained SO much from so many different people out there." To those who have become regular readers of MOUNTAIN PULSE, thank you for sharing this multidimensional journey with me. I look forward to the cyber future in the blogoshphere!

*Despite the fact that I'm making an effort to continue to blog for myself I am still quite curious to hear other opinions about what you read here. Most of all, I wonder if what you most enjoy reading is what I most enjoy writing. What brings you to Mountain Pulse? What have you enjoyed about this blog in the past, what would you like to see in the future? What have you found engaging-fun-enlightening, and what's been just...meh? Do you like the aesthetic changes of late? Is this blog easy to load up, read, navigate? Feel free to critique! I enjoy the idea of this being a homey place for to folks to enjoy a cuppa whatever while learning and/or sharing something new!