New phone. Who dis?

What the what? How do I even post a “blog post” anymore? I honestly just signed into my WordPress site for the first time in… over three years. With no more than ten posts over the last five years. It feels like getting a new phone and not knowing how to use it. “New phone? Who dis?” But blog version. And boy, a lot has happened since then. A lifetime, really. Do I fill you in? Do I just move on and start, well, right here? Is that awkward? We’ll just have to wait and see how this goes. But save the number anyway, it’s not spam.

Looking back at BCL, it started as a wedding site for our family. One of our very first posts was announcing our engagement. A way for us to stay connected with family and friends for those Big Crazy moments. Then, at some point, the blog went sideways. It was post after post of product reviews and events I had to write about. Big Crazy was more of a Big Hustle, and I hated it. It was a “lifestyle” blog, but not really OUR lifestyle. There were times when I needed to write a product review and hated myself for it. So much so, I felt like I boxed myself and the blog into a corner.

But before I jumped the shark and tried to keep up as an OG “influencer,” I did write some really great posts. I had stories to tell and products I genuinely wanted to share. Advice that I really thought could benefit someone else going through the same things I was going through. But getting caught up in the latest trend, wanting to get invited to something big, and trying to keep up ruined me. Some of you were, and are still, great at telling your stories. I just knew that it was time to close up shop for a while and find out who I was and what I really wanted. It wasn’t a rebrand, it was a break.

Doug and I started this site in 2005. That, gulp, is TWENTY-ONE years ago. We got engaged here, married here, and had babies here. Those babies? Not babies anymore. Fast forward to the present and what life looks like for us. We’re in the thick of a very different kind of hustle. No more elementary or (4 weeks away) middle schools, both girls will be in high school together next year, and college tours are in full swing. For me (and Doug), menopause, changing bodies, and grey hair are our newest trends. We are well into our 50’s now and have learned some great lessons over the years. And we keep learning them.

So why the comeback? Why now? Well, I no longer remember things without writing them down, and I’m desperate to remember what is happening around me as our house gets quieter and quieter and the time goes by so quickly. Like sands through the hour glass (those are the Days of our Lives.) Sorry, I started to get sad for a minute and needed a way to transition out of that…IYKYK.

So, here I am. Writing again. Writing about the Big Crazy Life I promised we’d have. The advice I wanted to share. The stories that need to be told. (Or do they?) Do we still love Disney? Yes. Do I still overshare? Yes. Will I share products with you? Hell yes, we have two dancers at home… We have to keep the lights on somehow. But I promise fewer recipes I probably won’t make again and more connections. Becuase I have missed being here.

I have missed you.