October through December are always the craziest months of the year. So many holidays and birthdays are jam packed into those three months that it is hard to catch up. Christmas has just passed and I feel like I am still not done with it, but that brings 2010! A decade has finished and brings a new year with new experiences and plenty to do. I really wish I would have kept up with my resolution of blogging constantly in 2009, but as all things in life occur I did not get to as much as I had hoped which I plan to tack onto 2010.

Looking back at 2009 here are some of my favorite moments:

• being accepted to Stanford
• my 23rd birthday
• changing my blog’s name and hosting it on my own domain
• Vegas trip
• all the time spent with my boyfriend
• the road trip to SF
• deciding my transition from LA to SF
• witnessing the first African American President inaugurated
• moving day to SF
• reacquainting with old friends who have become my best friends
• the Sandoval Holiday Party
• spontaneous photography trips with friends

Of course there are probably plenty more where that came from, but that’s as far as I could go without getting carried away. So I wish everyone a happy, healthy, and exciting New Year. That’s What Sam Said will see you in 2010!!!

I am currently writing this blog post courtesy of the WordPress app for the iPhone. I thought I might give it a try and inform you of the new things that have been done to my blog if you haven’t already noticed.

One obviously is that I can now update via my phone while I’m out and about. This means more updates and I am also able to approve comments directly from the app so I can respond to them quickly as well. The next is not so new, but I never told anyone that if you are able to view my blog on an iPhone you will see a completely different theme than on your laptop. Also, my Twitter feed has been added to my page so you can read more of my random thoughts. (Thankfully I don’t tweet more than five times a day.)

I’m happy that I have actually decided to keep up with my blog for this long and all of its new features. Here is to the future posts you will continue to read on That’s What Sam Said!

I’ve been going back and forth about my blog again which seems like it has been a little redundant, but with very good reason in my opinion. Deciding whether or not I want to keep it or what I should update about.

Most of the topics I would choose to write about almost seem like they would go in a journal which is probably something you wouldn’t particularly post for the online world to see. It made me think about the numerous blog feeds that are in my Google Reader which vary from tech information to cooking. The blogs all seem to have a general area where their focus lies or serve a specific purpose to those that read it.

I went ahead and took a look back at some of my blog entries which varied from reviews of restaurants or venues, baking, personal situations in my life, things I like in general, and school. My blog is definitely ALL over the place. I also didn’t see the point in using my free time to update, because I thought… well, maybe what I’m saying isn’t interesting enough to random people stumbling upon my blog. I started trying to find something that I could generally write about that would stick and I could also relate to, but I realized my blog is called “That’s What Sam Said”. It is about what I say. Which may sound selfish, but I’m not particularly looking to make it in the world as a so called “blogger” (even though I love writing and love reading certain bloggers’ masterpieces of the written word), but to inform my readers of my current standing in life. My readers come to my blog to see what I have to say. Of course my blog is going to gravitate toward my personal life and the problems I am facing, but that is what makes it my blog.

With that said, I hope that anyone looking to start a blog or thinking about giving up on updates to their blog finds this to be of some help in their thought process.

Today marks the one year anniversary of my blog! I can’t believe I actually kept it up for a year, but I think with the amount of things I have been experiencing it has allowed me to keep my readers updated. That’s What Sam Said has been through a lot of changes since day one. Originally starting on Blogger with the title “Living In Los Angeles, One Day at a Time”, with a whole different perspective on writing has been a big change. I went from making a blog very impersonal to adding my very own touch when I purchased my very own domain and had decided to move to San Francisco to attend Stanford. Of course updating has been very hard while being a full time student and working full time, but sharing my experiences has given me the opportunity to reflect on it and share it with everyone. Hopefully I can keep it up when the school year starts later this year. So, here’s to yet another year of blogging!

The last couple of weeks I had been thinking about changing my blog name and where I might be hosting it. For the last two nights I finally got serious about it and decided to pick something that would stick with me. My first decision was to change it to “Living in San Francisco, One Day at a Time”, but a friend pointed out that there is a possibility that I might not be living in California one day and will have to change it again. It made complete sense and I wanted something that could stick with me. I went through numerous names, mixed them up, and was almost too frustrated to even bother. Thankfully, I finally picked a name, “slept on it”, and then purchased a domain on Go Daddy for about ten bucks. Throwing in a little side note here, but moving a blog and getting things situated on a domain is a lot of work (special thanks to Gerard). Especially when you have no clue what you’re going to do with it. I still need to create a picture for my header, so that will be changed soon. Anyway, being a user of the phrase “that’s what she said” constantly, the new name seemed to fit and those that I ran it by thought it was catchy and funny. So I welcome you to the birth of my new domain and new blog titled That’s What Sam Said.