As you can tell from my page title, I’m a mother of three boys. My name is Crystal and my boys are Cameron who is 13, Carson is 10, and Colton is four. I’m also almost divorced (21st of this month). That makes me a single mother of three boys. It’s hard a lot of the time, but it also is the best part of my life. I’m a fourth grade math and science teacher so with that being said my writings may not always be without errors. I Love my job and my students. Before I became a teacher I worked with my dad at his small car lot for over 15 years. In this time is when I finally figured out what I wanted to do with my life. I loved working with my dad and we have a great relationship. I was just ready to get out the automobile business and since I’ve always been good in school I decided to put that to good use. I spend most of my free time with my boys and on my kid free weekends I’m either with my parents or a few girls that I’ve become close to over these last few years. I love to watch football especially the Clemson Tigers and I love watching my oldest play baseball. He’s definitely my favorite player, and I’m his biggest fan. I’ve always played sports so I’m happy that he loves to play as well. My favorite vacations are anywhere that has a beach (and food). The last but most important part of my life is my Faith. I’m a Christian and have been since I was 13. I’m definitely not perfect nor do I pretend to be. I’m just thankful I’m forgiven. My blogs will be about my faith, my boys, work, stress, fears, and just everyday life of being a mom of three boys. I’m hoping that when I write about these things that I can decompress, distress, or heal depending on what the topic is. Maybe they can even help someone else in the process. Anyway, thank you so much for taking time to read my blog and have a blessed day!

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.