I was just browsing through my archives looking for my very first post because I knew that my first year of blogging was just about up...turns out, that\'s today!!

Therefore, I guess I need to do some sort of blog-year-in-review sorta thing. (I was actually planning on being able to write this ahead of time, but since the time is now, here goes):

• I started lifewithryan.com on May 4th, 2004. Originally is was just supposed to be a way of keeping in touch with friends and family and keeping them abreast of what is going on in our lives. The real motivation behind blogging was due to the fact that Carrie was pregnant with our first child, after months of us thinking we may never be able to have children. Surprise!! And how!
• I\'ve been battling to get lifewithryan.com the number one google spot when searching for \"Ryan Headley\", but the closest I got was #3. I did have the top link for some time though it was through a post I placed on Java Ranch. Instead however, that spot is owned by a fellow Ryan Headley who has had his namesake\'s domain registered since \'92. I had good mind to steal it this year when it expired, but he swooped in at the last minute and renewed...damn it!
• I like to think that some folks find reading my so called life\'s moments somewheat enjoyable, but in reality, my traffic is low, my comments are minimal, and people rarely respond to my Stirring Questions. Its a bitter pill to swallow when you realize your just as unpopular now as you were in high-school...still trudge on I will
• The site has been in a never-ending state of flux as far as underlying code, features I need to add, etc. There still really isn\'t a \"family only\"section yet, and there are plenty of insecure areas that I need to lock down. Someday, I\'ll get to it.
• Our daughter was born in December of 2004 and ever since, our lives have been completely different. Mostly for the better, but there are times that our heads are just spinning...like when Liv was in the hospital ER just days after her birth for dehydration...why didn\'t we catch that sooner?!?
• I\'ve started a small LLC with a friend of mine doing some moonlighting work. We\'ve still got soooo much to do, like finish our own site...gonna be an interesting year

Overall, its been a great year and I\'ve pretty much kept up to my end of the bargain as far as bloggin almost daily. I\'ve had some dry-spells as of late, and certainly haven\'t been very interesting for most of the year. Something that I\'d like to remedy in the coming year.

What\'s that you say?!? Am I going to keep doing it? The answer to that question should probably be \"NO!\" however, the real answer is an emphatic \"HELL YEAH!\" I\'m a geek, albeit a severely unpopular one, so onward I trudge.

I\'d like to see myself blogging more about a subject rather than just rant and rave about traffic in the morning and what color my daughter\'s poop was last night. I really don\'t know the appropriate definition of a \"successful\" blog, but in my mind, there are certain blogs that cause one to stand up, take notice and bookmark it. I haven\'t found my niche yet, and really, I\'d like to find some nitch, for once in my life damn it...a nitch!

Anyway, here\'s to my first year! Whether or not its boring, its a personal victory that I\'ve actually stuck with something without actually getting anything \"back\" out of it. For that I am proud, and am actually excited about the upcoming year. I hope you stick around to share it with me...