{"id":2948,"date":"2017-04-05T15:28:52","date_gmt":"2017-04-05T19:28:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?p=2948"},"modified":"2017-04-05T18:54:34","modified_gmt":"2017-04-05T22:54:34","slug":"why-i-started-blogging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?p=2948","title":{"rendered":"Why I Started Blogging"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several years ago I left my family and moved thirteen hours away to teach school in a little farm community in Illinois. It was my first time living on my own for more than a couple months, and I wanted a way to easily keep in touch with my family and share my adventures with them.<\/p>\n

I had tried blogging before, but it had petered out, as most blogs tend to do when started by visionary teenagers. So I opened a new, private WordPress account, and invited my family members. I named it Cuppa Cold Water, in reference to the Proverbs 25:25, which says “Like cold<\/span> water<\/span> to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.” . I wrote about the new culture I was experiencing, and my students’ antics, and the friends I was making. Certainly not anything for the public eye.<\/p>\n

When I moved back to North Carolina after teaching, I\u00a0didn’t want to quit writing, so I ended up doing some severe editing and making my blog public so I could continue posting my little blurbs for whoever wanted to read them. You all kept reading and commenting and making my day, so I kept posting, and that brings us to now.<\/p>\n

Greener pastures were beckoning, and although WordPress has been good to me, I decided to take the plunge and purchase my own domain so I could get serious about this blogging stuff. Enter the Striped Pineapple blog, made with creative assistance from Raphael<\/a>\u00a0and Rosie<\/a>. In fact, she thought up this name, which references the art hanging on my kitchen wall, and is just quirky and weird enough to suit me.<\/p>\n

I’m planning to post much of the same content in this new space- little adventures and rants and lots of pictures of the cutest ten kids<\/a>\u00a0in the world. I’m also hoping to expand a bit, and post more book reviews, possibly some food posts, and also some more guest posts from\u00a0Rosie, whose writing is a treat to read. Eventually I may include some affiliate links, and try my hand at monetizing this blog, since making money from writing sounds like a dream. Don’t worry though, the content will remain genuine and (hopefully) entertaining.<\/p>\n

Thank you all for following my \u00a0little corner of the web, and reading what I have to say. You all are the reason I do this.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Several years ago I left my family and moved thirteen hours away to teach school in a little farm community in Illinois. It was my first time living on my own for more than a couple months, and I wanted a way to easily keep in touch with my family and share my adventures with them. I had tried blogging before, but it had petered out, as most blogs tend to do when started by visionary teenagers. So I opened…<\/p>\n

Read More Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[91],"tags":[167,114],"class_list":["post-2948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-musings","tag-blogging","tag-family"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/img_4119.jpg?fit=2048%2C1536","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8A8kG-Ly","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7227,"url":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?p=7227","url_meta":{"origin":2948,"position":0},"title":"Time Is Marching On","author":"Rachel","date":"April 2, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I think I promised to tell you weeks (or was it months and months) ago how I was surviving my new job. Time has flown and here I am on my third week in, still alive and kicking although I could be dead in a ditch for all you guys\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Life in NYC"","block_context":{"text":"Life in NYC","link":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?cat=462"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/IMG_8227.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/IMG_8227.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/IMG_8227.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/IMG_8227.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/IMG_8227.jpeg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1570,"url":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?p=1570","url_meta":{"origin":2948,"position":1},"title":"Tela","author":"Rachel","date":"December 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Remember when I said I'd tell you about our flopped beach trip? Well, here you go.\u00a0We have a long-standing tradition of renting the same little cabins every time we visit Tela, since they're private and cheap, off the beaten track, and the cook that owned them was amazing. However, they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Humor"","block_context":{"text":"Humor","link":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?cat=90"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/cuppacoldwater.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/12\/img_8905.jpg?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"http:\/\/cuppacoldwater.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/12\/img_8905.jpg?w=350&h=200&crop=1 1x, http:\/\/cuppacoldwater.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/12\/img_8905.jpg?w=525&h=300&crop=1 1.5x, http:\/\/cuppacoldwater.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/12\/img_8905.jpg?w=700&h=400&crop=1 2x, http:\/\/cuppacoldwater.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/12\/img_8905.jpg?w=1050&h=600&crop=1 3x, http:\/\/cuppacoldwater.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/12\/img_8905.jpg?w=1400&h=800&crop=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5609,"url":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?p=5609","url_meta":{"origin":2948,"position":2},"title":"What It’s Like Working Rent-To-Own Customer Service","author":"Rachel","date":"January 11, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This pastor was wicked and wouldn't even help his wife; he made her work and make stew until her legs looked like men's legs and he made her always wear skirts. The Bible says not to be wasteful so when I run out of laundry detergent I just throw in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Downtown adventures"","block_context":{"text":"Downtown adventures","link":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?cat=86"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/img_2355.jpg?fit=1200%2C901&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/img_2355.jpg?fit=1200%2C901&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/img_2355.jpg?fit=1200%2C901&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/img_2355.jpg?fit=1200%2C901&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/img_2355.jpg?fit=1200%2C901&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1130,"url":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?p=1130","url_meta":{"origin":2948,"position":3},"title":"How Gratitude Works","author":"Rachel","date":"August 19, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Gratitude is a funny thing. Contrary to how it seems it should be, it seems that the more luxuries a person has, the less thankfulness comes with them. There are many stories already written about this subject, about poor people dressed in rags who were as happy as could be,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Musings"","block_context":{"text":"Musings","link":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?cat=91"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_7492","src":"http:\/\/cuppacoldwater.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/08\/img_7492.jpg?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"http:\/\/cuppacoldwater.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/08\/img_7492.jpg?w=350&h=200&crop=1 1x, http:\/\/cuppacoldwater.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/08\/img_7492.jpg?w=525&h=300&crop=1 1.5x, http:\/\/cuppacoldwater.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/08\/img_7492.jpg?w=700&h=400&crop=1 2x, http:\/\/cuppacoldwater.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/08\/img_7492.jpg?w=1050&h=600&crop=1 3x, http:\/\/cuppacoldwater.files.wordpress.com\/2016\/08\/img_7492.jpg?w=1400&h=800&crop=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7177,"url":"http:\/\/www.stripedpineapple.com\/?p=7177","url_meta":{"origin":2948,"position":4},"title":"Little Letters, Fashion Edition","author":"Rachel","date":"July 10, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Dear Linen Pants, whoever thought of you should be knighted. 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