Happy Bloga-birtha-versary!

It’s our 1 year bloga-birtha-versary! Yep, I made up that word. . bloga-birtha-versary. The word somehow commemorates that the Williams Family Blog began one year ago today with the very first post. Click here to read the very first post.




Oh, you’re back, and so quickly. That first post was a short one. I was still trying to figure out some of the basics of blogspot. Eventually, maneuvering the mechanics became easier.



Topics to write about, well that was somewhat easy, too. I write about what I love. . . my family and Disney. Out of 344 posts, not quite one per day, but close, I would have to say that each post is either about the Williams Family or Disney or, my favorite: Both!



There’s the post that describes the birth of the Williams Family Blog—click here to read—and how the idea of a blog came to be. What you see now, isn’t what the original idea was meant to be, but, sometimes ideas grow and change.



Because of the Williams Family Blog, we are more observant, more watchful of how ordinary events on ordinary days can be incredible memories. We have learned to take more photos and videos to capture events.



We are grateful for our readers and their comments, as they have inspired us to write more, to share more.



Speaking of readers, there had been 19,716 hits on the blog as I began to compose this post. Our readership has expanded dramatically over the past 3 months, with near 4,000 hits a month.



There have been some controversial posts. The Keosauqua pool review comes to mind—click here to read that post.



Our love for Disney began in November 2006 with our very first trip as a family and almost 5 years later, our quest for Disney travel hasn’t wavered. We now have 7 trips to Walt Disney World, 3 Disney Cruises, and 1 Adventures By Disney Tour under our Disney travel belts. Yes, more are on the horizon and will be shared with you through our blog.



“Clink.” Here’s to year one and many more! Here, here! Happy Bloga-birtha-versary!

100th Post--Birth of a Blog

Disney has a long history of celebrating milestones and in fact wants its guests to celebrate life's milestones and commemorate special occasions. So, in Disney style, this post is to commemorate the 100th post of the Williams Family Blog.


Sometimes events converge to create something or begin a journey. You don't always know at the time when something happens that it is a piece to a puzzle about to be completed. You realize it later. . . that the event, the happening, did indeed lead up to something. . . bigger.

The genesis of the Williams Family Blog goes something like this. .
Last July while visiting family in Houston, we were talking about all of our vacation experiences and the information we have collected along the way. My Dad suggested I write a blog. At the time, I was horrified and curious. Did I have enough tech experience to handle the technology side? How would I get started? I asked a techy friend about how to get started. They had suggestions about Twitter. I had read an article in a magazine awarding women for their blogs, but I didn't read it carefully enough to find out how to start. I wonder if I read the article before or after Dad's suggestion? Thanks, Dad!

The next conversation came over the dinner table with the husband in January or February. It was about our summer plans which included visiting many of the neighboring community's swimming pools and how we could write about our experiences for other people. The husband suggested a book. I suggested a publication in our local newspaper. Still no blog.

In mid February, a group of colleagues and I headed to Storm Lake, Iowa, for some training. With 10 hours in the car and two nights in a hotel in addition to the two full days of training, I posed the question to the group about a blog. Katie saved the day with blogspot.com. She said it was easy to set up and get started. The service was free. Thanks, Katie!

Three weeks later, the Williams Family Blog was born. Crude at first in terms of design, etc. And, the first post was about our latest Disney Cruise. It seemed logical to write/blog about things we had just experienced--especially since our summer swimming ventures were so far away. We e-mailed the link to family and friends.

The Williams Family Blog has grown since then. It is now a link on other's blogs, has followers, and gets 30-80 hits a day. It gets almost daily tending and an updated layout weekly with new pictures and poll.

In honor of this celebration, I would like to highlight three of my favorite posts. The first is the "What's Up With The Matching Shirts?" post. I feel the question in the title speaks for itself. The second is for the adventure--Adventures By Disney, that is, and the day we went white water rafting on the Colorado River. The third is Castaway Cay, Disney's private island in the Bahamas. There are actually three posts dedicated to Castaway Cay--Part 1, Part 2, and Castaway Cay Stingrays. Happy Reading!

What is interesting is that there is not day that goes by that I don't get asked a Disney question. It can come via e-mail, or face to face, or as a comment in the blog. I am happy to answer them if I can. And, if there is an answer in a post, I let them know about the Williams Family Blog.

I wondered out loud to the husband if I would ever run out of ideas to write about. He reassured me that I would not run out of things to write about. I sort of keep a list of ideas and add to it regularly. I sure hope he's right!

So, what's next? Well, we are for sure going to share about swimming pools in the area, as that was our initial intent. And, we will keep sharing highlights from our life and our passion for Disney.