Beginning Anew

Hello blogging world!

Some of you who know me in real life, may know that I used to have another blog once upon a time. I loved blogging. I blogged for many of the same reasons many of you blog. I watched my blog mature over a year and a half time span. However, after one fateful day at work, my blogging adventures came to an end.

I work a private school. At one of our staff meetings in the fall of 2007, we were told that some teachers at our school had been posting inappropriate things online. These teachers were found to be posting pics of drinking parties and openingly bashing the school that I work at and its founder in their blogs. If this was not bad enough, some parents googled their teachers, found their myspace pages, and forwarded all incriminating photos and blog postings to the founder of the school. These teachers mentioned the school, their students, their students' parents, and the founder all by name. Needless to say, our founder was not happy. We were given strict instructions about what we could and could not do online and what acts would have consequences at school.

Now, I am a teacher and occasionally I shared stories about work. However, I felt that they were cute or funny stories about my students or coworkers. I never mentioned the name of my school or revealed the names of the innocent. However, I also have a guilty conscience. I knew that I blogged and I didn't want to be caught unknowingly breaking any rules. I wrote a handful of blogs after that meeting, but the joy I received from blogging waned. I felt inhibited and I chose to discontinue blogging for a period of time. That period of time grew to be two years.

Although I kept up with some of my friends via blogs over the past couple of years, I have been largely radio silent. However, my sister-in-law and a few of my friends from high school have been active bloggers recently. It has made me miss the blogging world. So, I made some decisions. I erased my old blog (which was a little heart breaking). I changed all of my personal information. And I changed my screen name. Everything regarding this blog is fresh and new. I have made a commitment not to use names and to keep the innocent- innocent.

However, I am going to blog. I am not going to keep the actions of a few immature employees ruin my blogging experience. And so, I have re-entered the blogging world as "Without Frills."

The name of the blog was difficult for me. I wanted something new. Something that didn't reflect my old blog. I have a few friends who have cute, funny, and completely fitting blog names. I struggled for weeks to create something that would fit me. However, everything I fell in love with was taken. However, when I boiled everything down, I realized that this blog was going to be exactly what it says- without frills. It was going to be just plain ol' me writing about my simple life. At this point "without frills" fit me. If I come up with something better, I will let you know!

So, welcome to my blog. I hope you enjoy!