I stumbled on a blog last week challenging people to blog everyday for the month of April (BEDA).  I believe this event has origins with Maureen Johnson the teen author and in the past it has been held in August or October.  A group of bloggers is doing it this month and I have joined in on the fun (or at least I hope they don't mind that I joined in on the fun--no one has responded to my comment).  What really appealed to me about the group doing it this month is that a few of them are librarians and are from the midwest, also one of them is named as Becky Jean-just like me!  Becky (not me) also created a list of ideas to blog about each day in an effort to make it easier and more appealing to people to participate.  So here goes blogging every day for a month...

First up is my introduction...

Name: Becky, not Rebecca, just Becky

Age: 32

Where I live:  La Crosse, WI

Where I call "home":

Phyisically La Crosse is "home".  I grew up near here in Tomah, WI.  La Crosse was the "big" city we went to for a mall or movies, so I have been familiar with La Crosse for a long time.  About nine years ago after Joel and I got married we settled in La Crosse and ever since then it has been home.  However, these days with Joel traveling, "home" seems to be where ever we can be together.

Why I blog: 

I blog for two main reasons.  One, to share our adventures with my friends and family.  I began blogging before social networks were the norm, before I was even allowed to be a part of Facebook--yes, I am that old.  It was a great way to share photos and stories.  Two, I have recently begun a second blog to focus on books and reading.  My goal with this blog is to enhance my readers' advisory and writing skills.

What part of BEDA I'm most excited about: 

What excites me the most is what also scares me the most.  I am excited to be challenged to blog everyday.  Up until this point I have been an inconsistent blogger, I am hoping with this challenge I develop the habit of regular blogging.

Why I'm doing BEDA [again]: 

I am excited to challenge myself and maybe meet some new people while I am at it!

How I first discovered Maureen Johnson/BEDA: 

I follow Maureen Johnson on Twitter because I've enjoyed a couple of her books (Devilish and 13 Little Blue Envelopes) and she is friends with one of my favorite teen authors, John Green.

Something other BEDA people might not know about me: 

Since I don't know anyone besides what I've read about them on their blogs and I am assuming they don't know anything about me I could say just about anything here.  We received a fondue pot from a friend for a wedding gift--we registered for it, but had never done it before, but it sounded fun.  In the nearly nine years since I have developed a love for fondue-ing.  I don't get to do it very often because it is a lot of work and kind of expensive, but it is such a fun way to do dinner with friends and family I would highly recommend it.

Another blog I follow: 

Wow!  To name just one is going to be  challenge.  I follow a ton of blogs for a ton of different reasons.  I think I can narrow it down to two.  The first one is from my sister-in-law, Sarah, who began blogging with my help, she also wanted to share their family adventures with friends and family because many of them did not live close by.  I love being able to stop by their blog and see what goes on at their house sometimes ordinary and sometimes extrordinary!  The second one, is one I followed for quite some time and often amazes me--Reading Rants.  Reading Rants is a teen book review blog, written by a middle school librarian.  Not only does she review books she also creates these wonderful and sometimes unusual book lists that I used all the time when I was working in a high school library.

A writer (of any kind) who inspires me: 

Elizabeth Gilbert and Garth Stein and for different reasons, but I think I will wait to explain those for a later post.

A YouTube channel I love:

I fell in love with John and Hank Green, also known as the VlogBrothers, early on in their Brotherhood 2.0 project.  While I don't watch them as often as I once did they are still my favorite video bloggers on YouTube.  Yes, I do consider myself a Nerd Fighter.

A favorite quote:

I am not one to collect quotes or know them off the top of my head, but I do like this one:

"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body." ~Joseph Addison

Now if only I would exercise my body as much as I exercise my mind I would be a very fit person!

More comments on this endevor:  I will be blogging on both of my blogs for this challenge.  I am not going to limit myself to one blog or the other and I will not be posting on both blogs everyday.  So, if you want to follow my fun you will also want to visit Rech Life, my personal blog or Rech Reads, my reading and book blog.  This will be the only post you will see on both blogs.  If you would prefer to follow the blogs in a RSS reader you can do that as well, check out the feed options here.