Keeping it real

Ok, I've decided to keep things real and start using our "real" names again.  I know that pretty much everyone that reads my blog knows us or at least knows our names.  Why did I start using pretend names??  Well, let me start from the beginning....

A friend's daughter started a blog and she was so excited about it.  My friend kept talking about her daughter's blog, I kept reading her daughter's blog, and the more I looked at it, the more I wanted to start a blog (check out the inspiration for my blog here).   So, I started my blog but I didn't want anyone to read it that was creepy or weird.  I don't want to offend anyone, but I don't know any other way to say it - that is exactly how I felt.  My blog had pictures of my boys and one of my nieces on it, information about us, our real names. 

You know - the usual (personal) stuff you see on a blog.

Well, my blog ended up having two people subscribe to it that made me worried.  These were people from other countries, young men, their blogs were written in languages I didn't understand, and their blogs had nothing to do with my blog.  By that time I had taken my niece's pictures down and changed names after the first foreign subscriber, but when the second one subscribed, I panicked!  All I could think about were stories I heard about pictures being copied from blogs and posted all over the internet and I wanted to do whatever I could to protect my family. 

Prince Charming pointed out that my blog address has our last name in it......I even thought about that when I created it.  Looking back on it, I probably should have been more careful in making that decision.  Well, I did talk to someone that has a blog which is read by so many people and I asked for her advice.  She was very helpful and now I have a few "tracking devices" on my blog which have helped to ease my anxiety.  Really, why have a blog and post if I don't want people to read it?  A blog really is nothing more than an online diary or a very public journal of your thoughts.  Sometimes I'm amazed at some of the things I read on other blogs.  People can be so open and honest and I wonder how they can share the things they do without worrying about who is going to see their post or where their words will end up.  Oh, I could change my settings and have everyone subscribe to my blog, but I really like reading comments that people leave, even people that I don't know..... just as long as the people aren't creepy or weird. 

I really like the blogs I normally visit.  I've learned alot by reading the posts and am truly thankful for the time and effort that is put into every one of them.  Today I read a post about authenticity and it really made me think about my blog and using our real names.  That's also why I've posted my "real" thoughts in this post.  So I've decided to go for it.  From now on I will be blogging about Carl, Pam, Kyle and Ryan Sacco with our two dogs and a cat.

Just us. 

Using our real names. 

No pretending. 

Being authentic.

Just trying to keep it real.