350 posts?!

This is the 350th post here on our family's blog so I thought I'd write out 350 things we like to do . . . just kidding. That's ridiculous. Who could come up with that many? Better yet, who would want to read that many? Instead I will tell you why and how this blog came to be.

We have to go back a few years (no need to count) to when I was in 7th grade. No joke. We're going back that far. I digress. In our little town there were a few elementary schools but only one middle school so we funneled all together and got to meet new people. I was walking the halls one day when I saw a girl who was in one of my classes and I decided she looked nice and I wanted to be her friend. So I did what any middle school girl would do and I invited her to my birthday slumber party. From her end, she thought I was inviting everyone from the class so she decided to go. From my end, I'd only invited a few friends and her. Needless to say, she showed up, we got to know each other and thus began an amazing friendship. We were in a bunch of the same classes, may or may not have skipped class together (definitely not if my mom or daughters are reading this), even double dated one of the school dances each taking a boy named Cam - yes - those kinds of friends. We grew up, had to approve each others fiances, were in each others weddings, celebrated each little baby that joined our families (my two to her six but who's counting?!) and have continued being amazing friends. Our kids are now friends and we all look forward to our (at least) once a year trip to visit them for a few days. I love when we're together. We can pick up right where we left off laughing hysterically at the past, catching up on the present and pondering the future. I adore her to bits and miss her like crazy. Needless to say, years ago, she started a blog www.amongstlovelythings.com. (She is an amazing writer, incredible photographer and is now doing Podcasts so check her out!) Immediately, I was hooked. I felt like we were sitting down together to drink coffee and talk about life.  But I quickly realized it was a one sided conversation. I knew what was going on in her world but she had no idea from our end. And I realized how great it was for her other family and friends who lived near and far to also catch up on happenings in their family complete with fantastic photos. I wanted one too.

So . . . the Marsh Family Blog was conceived. Choosing a name was almost like choosing a name for our kids. But then, one of my favorite MOPS speakers came to mind. She was discussing how, in family life, the days are soooo long. It's one repeated task after another that never ends; each day looking almost exactly like the last. BUT, the years are short. Within a blink of an eye, your newborn is a toddler is a kindergartener is a fifth grader is in high school is in college. It resonated so deep within me and truly helped me see our day to day differently. Each little thing in the day-lies matter. And by blogging about it, it's almost like making it count. Hence the name, "The Years are Short" to remind myself that time flies and I need to capture each day. Once I discovered a company called "Blog to Book" that allowed me to print bound copies, it became a scrapbook for our family and all we'd done in the year. It has become a place to share our adventures, log our travels, laugh about the little things, muse about upcoming things, review books and movies, highlight the good and even process the not so good. Each one of the Marsh family has contributed (it's just my luck to be the key representative of such a bunch) and we all love looking back and what's been sent out into the blog-o-sphere. It is for friends and family but mostly for us. We like it. So we've kept it. And now we've written 350 posts.