Why I wanted to Bee a blogger
Until I created my Weddingbee application, I hadn’t really ever blogged before. I had only dipped a toe into the “blogosphere” at a previous job and couldn’t fathom that anyone would be interested in what I had to say. I’m certainly not an expert in anything (unless we’re talking PB frosting) and what useful insight could I offer to the faceless internet?
Then, Mr.D and I started going through the K1 Visa process. It was rough, we didn’t really know what to expect and didn’t know a soul who had gone through the entire process. What makes the application worse, is that unlike in the movie The Proposal (heck yes we saw it!) you never actually speak to an actual immigration official till the very end. Even then it’s only the immigrant (him) and not the sponsor (me). All you can hope for is a letter followed by other letters.
I had been googling to find personal stories of the process, for someone other than a forum of conspiracy theorists saying ” He had a speeding ticket 7 years ago?!?! He’ll be denied!!!” to tell me their story, what happened in their process. But I kept striking out.
Of course, I was also looking (I think for centerpieces) and stumbled across one of Mrs. Avocado’s posts. I didn’t really “get” Weddingbee at first. I distinctly remember thinking “oh..this updates too much for me, I’ll never keep up!”. Riiiight. Then I was hooked, because of all the things Weddingbee is, it certainly isn’t “faceless”. I began to think, maybe there are other brides who feel just as alone as I do in this whole K1 visa blahbity blah. So I began to write, I wrote without knowing if I’d be accepted. I wrote without knowing an ounce of what I know now about the Visa process. In doing so, I’ve found so many other brides who have felt just as lost, confused and overwhelmed at the giant bureaucracy standing in between them and their marriage.
It’s so nice now, on the other side of one visa hurdle (yet, about to mount another) to be able to say, “It’s okay, it’s long and sucky and you spend a lot of time writing checks and waiting for letters but eventually it’ll happen”.
Your comments (especially on the visa posts) have helped me to feel so much less alone (both in visas and in wedding planning!) in a confusing and mind boggeling process. Thanks for being there for me and I hope that I’ve been able to be there for you too.
Do you blog? Why’d you start?
August 11th, 2009 at 2:55 am
For me it was a way of channelling all my weddingness into one place. My “real life” girlfriends lovely as they are aren’t super interested in the details like I am nor do I want them to know everything before the “day.”
Also I love having people comment on my wee musings. It just makes everything that more fun!
August 11th, 2009 at 9:59 am
In the beginning it was a chance to group all my wedding thoughts, dreams and ideas into one place. It grew into a wedding journal of sorts, one that I never told anyone else about. Afterwards, I realized I had enjoyed the blogging journalistic side so I decided to start fresh, chronicling life, remodeling, cooking, shopping and starting a family in MD.
I realized that as nice as it was to have a “secret blog” that I didn’t have to worry about other people reading, I had fallen in love with the blog “community” and friendships that had developed. It’s really nice to hear from other people and read their shared perspectives!