Welcome to Part 4 of a special collaboration with Annie over at Tales of a Family! We’ve had so much fun sharing our journeys and working on this together, and we’ve found that we have a lot in common. It’s been the most wonderful way to get to know each other, a celebration of friendship, and an exploration of writing and stories and how creating grows and changes with us. I hope you enjoy the reading as much as we’ve enjoyed the writing. It’s hard to believe this will be the final post in the series, but I think we’ll work together again in the future. I’m looking forward to it!

Annie’s Part 4: What Matters Most

After ten years of writing, remembering, and sharing stories, I discovered that the greatest treasures are not always the stories themselves, but the people they bring into our lives. When I first started Tales of a Family, I thought I was simply preserving memories. I wrote about my family, the past, and the people who shaped me. I gathered our stories and history before time carried them too far away. At the time, I did not understand how much this journey would grow beyond my family history.

Over the years, my blog has become more than a collection of memories; it has become a place of connection. Certainly, I treasure the readers who have taken the time to visit, read, comment, and share their own memories.  Every kind word, thoughtful response, and personal reflection has meant more than I could ever possibly say. Sometimes a comment has reminded me that stories have a way of reaching hearts we may never meet in person.

Those comments have encouraged me to keep writing, even when I doubted myself. They reminded me that ordinary moments can stir something familiar in someone else. A story about a porch, a mountain road, a childhood memory, a dear pet, or a person long gone can help another person remember something precious from their own life. That has always been one of the beautiful things about storytelling. Our memories may have begun as our own, but once we shared them, they often became a bridge to someone else’s heart.

Through the years, I have treasured the friendships that have grown through this journey. Some friendships began through shared stories, kind messages, blog comments, or a mutual love for writing or family history. Others deepened because storytelling gave us a new way to connect.

This blog has helped me look at life differently. I started to view my life with more gratitude. I have begun to notice the small moments, the quiet blessings, and the people who make this life so meaningful. It has helped me understand that a treasured life cannot be built only on grand events, but on everyday love. 

To every reader, friend, family member, and fellow storyteller who has been a part of this journey, thank you.  Your encouragement has always been one of the greatest treasures of all.

The stories may have started with my family, but over time they have become part of something much larger: a shared place of memory, connection, friendship, and heart.

And that will be something I will always treasure.

Katie’s Part 4: What Matters Most (and What Comes Next)

Thank you.

I feel like I need to start there, before anything else.

(But I should probably also add some context.)

Here we are. This is Part Four of our collaboration, and honestly, it’s the one I’ve been least eager to write. Thinking about what I treasure most – the connections and the friendships, the growth, the creative community around me – that should be joyful and fun. And it is! It absolutely is. It is also overwhelming.

Ten years, y’all. I’ve been here plugging away at A Virginia Writer’s Diary for ten years. That’s a long time, and I feel like there’s just so much I could say. I could fill pages and pages, and I’m struggling trying to condense everything down.

(Seriously. This is currently my sixth attempt to even get started. If it sticks, I won’t delete this note, and everyone can laugh. Writing is hard sometimes, you guys.)

I thought I’d get very specific writing this. I don’t think I can. I think I need to come at this another way. So here it goes…

I remember when I started this blog. I felt hopeful and excited, but aimless. Then I remember when it came alive during 2020. I decided to be brave, and started posting poetry and short stories. The comments I got were all so nice, so encouraging, and they made me want to do better. So I kept posting, and I kept writing. I posted things I knew weren’t my best work, because to get anything out there at all felt better than to contribute nothing. I don’t strive for perfection anymore. I try to do better than I’ve done before, to take lessons away from lackluster dialogue and lines of poetry that don’t quite fit. I am part of this community, and I want to be there, to be present and to give something whenever I can.

It’s hard to mention specific readers and comments and followers, because while I certainly engage more prolifically with some blog friends than with others, I value everyone who stops by and leaves a like or a comment. And I enjoy reading your work, even on days when I don’t have the free time or the free hands to type a response of my own. I’m grateful to everyone out there who reads and writes and creates and inspires me to do the same.

We are a community. We’ve supported each other through the bad moments – 2020 and tough elections and tragedies and uncertainty – and through good moments, too – getting published, finding new jobs, starting at college, seeking help and therapy. I read your posts and feel like I’m not alone, and I want you to know you’re not alone, either. I see you. I read your work. I appreciate your art.

Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for being here and doing what you do. It’s been a journey, from 2016 until now, and I can’t wait to see where we go from here.

So, what comes next?

Well, first, I can’t truly conclude things without saying that I’ve loved every bit of this collaboration with Annie, and I hope we can do something similar again soon! Please go check out her blog, Tales of a Family. It’s wonderful and heartfelt, and I’m so glad she and I have been able to connect through this project. It just encapsulates everything I enjoy about being here on WordPress.

I love creating. I love cooking and making music. I love decorating my home and making it a space that feels full and happy. I love coloring with Lucy and building towers out of her Picasso Cubes. I love writing. I love connecting with other people. Most of the time, I love people.

It’s going to be an interesting next chapter for all of us creators, I think, as we move deeper into the age of AI. When I think of what comes next, I think of how beautiful and human and imperfect we are here, putting ourselves out there in all of our not-quite-right glory. Sharing stories that go on too long or end too soon, poems that don’t sync to the rhythm we had in our heads, artworks that don’t pop the way we wanted, essays that just can’t truly convey what we’re thinking.

We are perfect in our imperfections. That sense that what we’ve created isn’t done, that it could be better, that’s our spark of the divine. We are not stagnant, and we are never totally complete. We grow and change every day. Our creating does, too.

I don’t know quite what I want to do next here on A Virginia Writer’s Diary. I want to get back to posting more often, and to writing short stories. I miss writing short stories. I’d like to start something longer form – a novel, if you will, in parts that I post once a week or once a month. I think that would be amazing, and a really interesting challenge. I want to follow more of your blogs, and engage more with what you’re creating. I live in Virginia, but I want to make a space on my little corner of the Internet that’s bigger and more than just my world. I invite you to do it with me. We’ll have fun. 

I want to grow. I want my writing to grow. I want my community to grow. I want us to create together and go to bed at night knowing that no one and no machine could ever do it quite the same way.

And I want to keep going, keep growing and keep creating, for as long as I can.

Welcome to Part 3 of a special collaboration with Annie over at Tales of a Family! We’ve had so much fun sharing our journeys and working on this together, and we’ve found that we have a lot in common. You can find her Part 3 post here, and I hope you go and check out her blog. I also hope you enjoy the reading as much as we’ve enjoyed the writing. 😊

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Blogging can be a lonely pastime. Or, it can connect you with other creators who inspire you, support you, and encourage you. You’ll read their stuff, comment, get to know them and root for them. And you’ll wonder sometimes, is anyone out there reading my stuff? Should I keep writing and posting? And even though you feel uncertain, you will, because it means something to you, and because you love it. You’ll keep putting your stories out there, sharing your world, and one day you’ll look up and realize it’s been ten years.

Ten years of blogging, and of building your community of writers and readers.

They say tin for ten years, in marriage. But as far as we know, there is no standard gift for ten years of blogging. So, we made one.

When we realized we’d both been at this for a decade, we decided to collaborate and write a series. Over the next several weeks, we’ll be looking back together on our ten years – why we started, what we’ve learned, our best posts and memories. It’s going to be fun, and we’ll learn a lot and hopefully inspire some of our other creator friends and colleagues to reflect on their own journeys.

Annie’s Part 3: The Lessons I Have Discovered

Some journeys start from the heart with excitement, expectations, and growing anticipation of where the trail might lead. For me, this writing adventure has grown and changed, helping me discover so much about my family, my dreams, and my hopes for the future. Sometimes the most meaningful journeys begin before we fully understand where they are taking us.

Ten years ago, I began this blog with a collection of memories and a desire to keep them from disappearing. I did not have a detailed plan or an understanding of where this journey might lead. I only knew that the people, places, and moments that influenced my life deserved to be remembered.

Over the years, Tales of a Family has grown and changed, and so have I. Looking back now, I realize that writing these stories has taught me almost as much about myself as it has about my family.

One of the first lessons I discovered was that ordinary lives give rise to extraordinary stories. Stories do not need to be dramatic or perfect to matter. Some of the best events unfold on an ordinary day, just another square on the calendar when nothing exciting was planned. But then life offers us a joyful glimpse of everyday love.

Those are the precious moments spent together while sitting on porches, enjoying coffee around a kitchen table, or watching the naughty antics of grandchildren or the playful antics of dachshund pups. Those ordinary moments of life often become the anecdotes we treasure most.

Memories become clearer when we write them down. It helps me remember the details I do not want to forget, the voices, expressions, traditions, and personalities of the people I cherish, as well as the places and experiences that molded my life.

Writing prompts about songs, photographs, special places, family conversations, and familiar trinkets open the door to an entirely new story. One memory often leads to another, revealing details that have been quietly waiting to be revealed. Writing simply does not record our histories; it helps us to return to them, understand them, and see them in a whole new light.

Stories connect the generations. Every story I preserve provides my family, friends, and readers with a glimpse of the people who lived amazing lives so long ago. Each tale preserves the voices that may otherwise be lost. When sharing my stories, I help future generations grasp where they came from.  These stories become knit into the fabric of our everyday lives, bringing to mind the strength, courage, and love handed down to us as a precious gift.

Another lesson I found was that writing takes courage. While some stories are joyful, others involve grief, regret, loss, or difficult lessons. Writing honestly means that I must be vulnerable, and that was a difficult task. There are times when returning to a moment in time means returning to emotions that I thought I had stowed safely away. When we are willing to write from the heart, others recognize a piece of their own lives within our stories. And often, our most personal stories are the ones that deeply touch my readers.

Finding my voice has also been a piece of this journey. I wanted my writing to have a creative confidence and style that was all my own. Although it required practice and time, I believe my writing has become warmer, more confident, and more reflective. And while I believe I still have much to learn, I trust the ways I tell my tales. A writer’s voice develops through writing, and not waiting until it’s perfect.

I found that creativity can begin at any age. My blog has grown into more than a place to record memories. It has encouraged me to write fiction, poetry, short stories, and flash fiction. It inspired me to write short stories for a recent family book, with another in the works. It has also given me a new dream: writing a novel. There has never been an age limit on discovering a new dream or writing a new chapter.

Over time, I learned that readers want connection, not perfection. Not every sentence has to be flawless; my readers want stories that are genuine, familiar, and heartfelt. People remember how a story made them feel, and that connection is one of the greatest gifts a writer can offer.

Perhaps, most importantly, writing has helped me find my way home. Home represents my faith, my family, my friends, Colorado, the mountains, the treasured memories, and even the person I have become through all the seasons of life. Sometimes we begin writing to find our stories, but the stories help us discover ourselves.

After ten years, I understand that storytelling has become not just something I do; it has become a part of who I am. I have learned to value ordinary moments, trust my own voice, and write even when the words are imperfect.

Most of all, I learned that our stories matter. They connect us to the past, bring meaning to the present, and leave something behind for those who come after us.

I may not know where the next ten years will lead, but I know that there are memories lingering waiting to be revealed, characters waiting to come to life, and stories waiting to be told.

And I am not finished writing them.

Katie’s Part 3: What I’ve Learned

My name is Katie, and I am a procrastinator.

That…was not as hard to admit as I thought.

But seriously, I am. And I do have a hard time admitting it to myself, especially now that my free time is limited and I have to be deliberate with how I structure my days. I put things off until they become a problem, and then instead of just a task, I have a problem. And then I’m stressed because I have a problem, and then I put off solving the problem until the very last minute. (This also applies to writing. And laundry. And making dinner.)

You know what makes it harder to procrastinate? Having a routine, and that’s something A Virginia Writer’s Diary has given me. I post once a week these days – I used to try for three times a week – and no matter what else is happening, I get something up on the blog.

So, there’s something I’ve learned. Give yourself a task that has to get done every week, and commit to finishing it.

But that’s a small lesson, something most people learn in a similar way. Let’s dig deeper.

I’m a perfectionist. I think it’s part of why I’m a procrastinator, honestly, because I don’t like putting my work out there until it’s perfect. But perfection doesn’t exist in this world, and I’ll make myself crazy striving for something that isn’t attainable. For years, this drive to produce perfection kept me from even getting started on writing projects. I’d write a sentence or two, decide it was irredeemably terrible slop, and stop.

It became a maddening cycle, and I desperately wanted to break out of it.

So I started writing monthly short stories. Always around a yearly theme, always posted by the end of a month. I figured any story, regardless of how not-perfect, was better than no story at all. Just choosing to write was better than not writing. This routine changed my brain. I don’t write for perfection anymore. I write because I love it, and because I hope that even if a story isn’t perfect, someone else out there will love it, too. I always hope the story I write finds its way to the person who needs it. And once I post a story, it does and doesn’t belong to me anymore. It’s my work, but the way it makes people feel, the smiles and tears, the laughs, even the boredom – those belong to the readers.

I often wish I could do things better. I wish I were a better writer, faster and more adept at dialogue and more artful with my words and more lyrical with my sentences. I wish I were a better mother, and a better person. I try to be kind, to be present, to be patient, to be loving. I succeed more times than I don’t. I do the work. In all things, I do the work. And I think that’s my biggest lesson from blogging for ten years: DO. THE. WORK.

It’s as simple and as difficult as that. Show up. Try. If you fail, try again. Keep trying. Keep working.

If I do nothing else in a day, I always do the work.

Join us for Part 4!

In two weeks, we will continue our anniversary series! I hope you’ve enjoyed it so far. We certainly have!

Welcome to Part 2 of a special collaboration with Annie over at Tales of a Family! We’ve had so much fun sharing our journeys and working on this together, and we’ve found that we have a lot in common. You can find her Part 2 post here, and I hope you go and check out her blog. I also hope you enjoy the reading as much as we’ve enjoyed the writing. 😊

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Blogging can be a lonely pastime. Or, it can connect you with other creators who inspire you, support you, and encourage you. You’ll read their stuff, comment, get to know them and root for them. And you’ll wonder sometimes, is anyone out there reading my stuff? Should I keep writing and posting? And even though you feel uncertain, you will, because it means something to you, and because you love it. You’ll keep putting your stories out there, sharing your world, and one day you’ll look up and realize it’s been ten years.

Ten years of blogging, and of building your community of writers and readers.

They say tin for ten years, in marriage. But as far as we know, there is no standard gift for ten years of blogging. So, we made one.

When we realized we’d both been at this for a decade, we decided to collaborate and write a series. Over the next several weeks, we’ll be looking back together on our ten years – why we started, what we’ve learned, our best posts and memories. It’s going to be fun, and we’ll learn a lot and hopefully inspire some of our other creator friends and colleagues to reflect on their own journeys.

Annie’s Part 2: How Tales of a Family Changed Over the Years

In the beginning, when I first started my blog, I was full of hope and excitement about just where this new journey might take me. It was a start to a meaningful new chapter, one that allowed me to recreate the family stories my mother and grandmother shared with me over the years. Those memories were treasures, and writing them down gave them a place to live beyond conversations. Truth be told, I also enjoyed researching my family tree. Each discovery opened another door and tugged at me to keep learning more about my family’s beginnings, their struggles, their joys, and the stories that shaped us.

In those early years, I had so much fun discovering those trails my research uncovered. I found ancestors living in the most unexpected places, and each new name or record kept opening more doors. Some family members arrived in New France, while others settled in colonial Massachusetts Bay. Some ancestors were involved in the harrowing events of Salem. And I was especially fascinated to find family connections across generations, in which both branches of my family lived, worked, and even crossed paths during the early chapters of American History. 

As I continued digging, I found grandfathers fought in the American Revolution and later carved out homes along the early frontier.  Their stories helped me imagine the courage, hardship, and determination it must have taken to build a life in a new and uncertain land. To my joy, I found a strong female writer in my family line, a grandmother who wrote thoughtfully about love, family, and God, at a time when women’s voices were often dismissed or discouraged. Finding her reminded me that storytelling, reflection, and faith have deep roots in my family, and perhaps my own love of writing was passed down in ways I never imagined.

Some of my ancestors bravely fought in the Civil War or helped others through the Underground Railroad. Strong women in my family stood with the suffragists and believed in a future where women’s voices and rights mattered. Bringing those stories to light gave me a deeper appreciation for the courage, conviction, and faith that shaped the generations before me. The more I learned, the prouder I became to know that so many of my grandmothers and grandfathers were people of integrity, character, and quiet strength.

Of course, no family story would be complete without a few surprises or a few skeletons tucked away in the closet, and I found those too. Those discoveries reminded me that family history is never perfect. It is human. It is layered courage, mistakes, triumphs, struggles, faith, and flaws. But I am proud of my heritage and grateful for the journey of uncovering it. What an exciting journey this has been!

Over time, my blog expanded as I added new genres to the mix. What began mostly as a place for family stories slowly grew into a creative home where I could share writing prompts, short stories, poetry, photographs, and memories. Each new form of writing stretched me as a writer and helped me grow more comfortable on the page. Writing prompts taught me to explore new ideas. Short stories allowed me to use my imagination and incorporate characters. Poetry helped me slow down and pay attention to emotions, images, and rhythm. Reflections gave me a place to be honest about life, family, change, and faith.

Through that process, I began to discover my voice. Over the years, my writing became more honest, more confident, and more personal. My stories matured and evolved as I did. And I found that writing not only preserved the past but also helped me better understand myself in the present.

Through my community of bloggers, I met some of the greatest people, many of whom understand the joy, vulnerability, and courage it takes to share personal stories. The writing community became a place where we encouraged one another, celebrated each other’s goals and accomplishments, and offered support when words did not come easily. Their comments, kindness, and shared experiences reminded me that storytelling has a way of connecting people across distance and time. Because of them, my blog began to feel less like a personal diary and more like a welcoming community, a place where stories were not only written but also received, understood and valued.

Tales also helped me reconnect with family and discover new family members along the way. What began as a simple place to save memories slowly became a bridge between the generations. Family members began sharing stories, photographs, and details I might have never known otherwise. Through those links, I have learned more about my roots, my family history, and the people who came before me. In the beginning, I never imagined my blog would open those doors, but over time, it became more than a writing project. It became a way to find my way back to my family.

Still, while my writing life has grown, my everyday life has continued to move forward with all its responsibilities, changes, and challenges. Teaching has required much of my time, energy, and heart, and there have been seasons when my writing just had to wait. I have also faced challenges that have slowed me down; some physical, and others emotional, especially when I have said goodbye to family members and friends I have loved. Yet, even through those changes, I still carry dreams I want to follow. I still find joy in the journey, meaning in the stories, and hope as I look toward the future.

Now, I know writing has become more than something I sit down and do. It has become a part of how I remember, how I heal, how I make sense of the past, and how I dream about the future. My stories have helped me understand where I came from, who I am, and who I am still becoming. Ten years later, I realize writing is no longer just a hobby or a project. It is woven into my life, my heart, and my identity as a storyteller.

Katie’s Part 2: How A Virginia Writer’s Diary Has Changed Over the Years

I love stories. I always have. I used to write little fables for my parents when I was small, and I spent a lot of time reading and writing in the summertime when school was out. Even now, when life leaves me with almost no free time, I make sure to read and write SOMETHING every week, even if it’s only a few words, a few pages.

That’s why I started my blog, all the way back in 2016. I wanted to write consistently, and I needed to hold myself accountable to do that. I figured, if I set up a blog and committed to posting on it once a week, at least that would be words on a page, even if I didn’t write anything else. But it took a while – years, if I’m being honest – to really hit my rhythm and decide what, exactly, A Virginia Writer’s Diary was going to be. I tried my hand at essays, at travel blogs, at photos and wine reviews. And then I lost my grandmother at the beginning of 2020.

My grandfather’s death inspired me to start my writing journey. My grandmother’s death renewed my energy for it. She was my last grandparent, my last connection to a version of me that might have stayed in the mountains, might have moved back and made a life in a house on a hill tucked away down a holler, might have become a totally different person. I felt that tie sever. I wrote a post about it, and then a story called “The Roads,” both of them exploring endings and beginnings and the paths that open and close to us. Saying goodbye to her – to that possible me – prompted me to explore my creative side differently, and to focus more on using my life as a tool to tell the made-up stories I always have in my head, just with a little bit more Katie thrown into the mix.

When we moved to Aldie and became ensconced in rural village life, I felt like I’d found my place. I could tell stories about it forever. I just saw endless inspiration, and I think my content at the time reflected that. So many poems and stories and pictures, so many days spent in the countryside, talking to interesting people, going to beautiful places. I wrote “The Ledger” about a story our contractor told us as he was making plans for our renovation, “Sallie’s Mill” about a haunted night a friend had experienced, “Cloud Dwellers” after a road trip down Skyline Drive, “The Bridge” and its sequel about a historic bridge in the area you can still walk across, “The Day Thomas Leonard Came Back” about the property behind my house, “The Last Glenmoor Christmas” about a historic home that was torn down before anyone realized it was happening. And more. So many more. I had a miscarriage and wrote poem after poem as I cried tear after tear. And then, joy. Lucy came, and our world changed forever.

My writing did, too, and so did the blog. Some days, I wonder what I ever did with all my free time, and why I thought I didn’t have any. Some days, it’s all I can do to remember to brush my teeth. (That’s not most days. Dental hygiene is important. I must remember for myself so I can teach my kid.) We’ve moved away from our village, from our farmhouse, from a whole world we’d made. I am a beach person. (I’m trying.) I am a mom. I write less, sleep less, daydream more, and chase a toddler goblin all over my house. What fantastic, sublime chaos! I’ve not written a complete story since before Lucy came in 2023. I’m getting there, though! I’ve said that a lot, but I can feel the change coming. Lucy has started a summer day camp at the most loving, tolerant, outdoor-oriented school I’ve ever seen, where the class pets are two calm snakes and every teacher knows the name of every child. Graham has started a new job. I am finding my groove.

You might have seen an uptick in poetry recently, and I’m so happy for it. I’ve been revisiting some of my unfinished projects – I made a post about that – and starting on something new and long-form. If I can get it in shape, maybe I’ll post it here first. Or maybe I’ll do something crazy and ambitious like querying and trying for an agent. We’ll see! But no matter what, I’ll be here, because I love it here. This is the place I come home to, in so many ways, now.

And that’s the beauty of creating, I think. It’s all a game of “We’ll see.” There are no rules. It’s about you, and your spirit, and what you can make with your mind and your time and your hands in your place. No one else would do it the same. No one could create quite like you. Life has changed a lot since 2016, and so have I, and so has A Virginia Writer’s Diary. I cannot wait to see where we go next. And I’m so grateful to all my readers and writers and WordPress friends for sticking with me. Y’all inspire me every day.

Annie and Katie

Ten years later, we are not the same writers who started this journey. Our blogs have changed because we have changed. Our stories grew because we grew. And somewhere along the way, writing became more than a hobby. It became a way to remember, to heal, to connect, and to better understand the lives we were living.

Join us for Part 3!

In two weeks, we will continue our anniversary series as we reflect on what we have learned, how writing has shaped us, and the stories that still tug at our hearts and await being told.