As of this morning, we have 33 participants for NaBloPoMo. Hooray! NaBloPoMo and this community thrive because of every single one of you, and I am so thrilled that you’re here! As I clicked through our official participant list, I was excited to find a few new-to-me faces this year. I am excited that people found this page and decided to participate this year, and I look forward to connecting with you!
Many of you know me already, but in case we haven’t met, I’ll share five things about me.
ONE
Welcome! I am San, your NaBloPoMo host. I am a 40-something wife, daughter, (twin) sister, proud aunt, and loyal friend. I grew up in Germany, but have lived in the U.S. for more than two decades now.
TWO
I live in California’s beautiful state capital, Sacramento, with my husband Jon. We met during an exchange semester here in California, and what was supposed to be a 6-month stay for me turned into a long-term relocation to a different country. I wrote a little bit about the decision to come to California here. It was the last thing I expected, but here I am.
THREE
I work as a geographer for a government agency – currently furloughed and sad about the state of the country – and I am a bit of a nerd. I am very detail-oriented and love to crunch numbers.
FOUR
In my free time, I run a lot and – as you already know, or will find out – have a slight obsession with my Peloton bike and Peloton in general (I enjoy all the other modalities as well!). I love books (but am in a reading slump right now), knitting (but should really pick up my needles again), travel, Friends reruns, and good food. I bake my own sourdough bread (yup, still going strong since the pandemic), and I love to cook. My favorite color is purple.
FIVE
I’ve had this blog for 20+ years, have participated in NaBloPoMo since 2006, and host an annual Secret SANta Swap (stay tuned for that). I also love Christmas and enjoy exchanging Christmas cards.
This was just a brief introduction, but if you have more questions for me, you can still submit questions here: Ask San Anything!
In the meantime, tell me a little bit about yourself and why you decided to join us this year!
I am doing NaBloPoMo this month. 30 blog posts in 30 days. Come join me. #nablopomo2025
Links to the Participants List. Happy Writing!
Noemi
November 3, 2025 at 12:36 pmThanks again for hosting us all! I’m sorry you’re furloughed right now. My friend works for HUD and I know she finds it really stressful. I hope you can go back to work soon!
San
November 4, 2025 at 9:12 amThanks Noemi. I am sorry your friend at HUD is in the same boat. It is more stressful to be in limbo like that than one would think.
Sam
November 3, 2025 at 1:28 pmI grew up in California and have lived here most of my life, but I haven’t visited Sacramento yet! It’s on my list, and as my girls are getting older, we are hoping to do more road trips.
San
November 4, 2025 at 9:13 amMy husband and I just drove down to SoCa (north of LA) l last week and it’s a long drive – even longer to SD! But Sacramento is worth a visit :)
Martha
November 3, 2025 at 1:30 pmI loved learning more about you and looking forward to more. Have a great week and thanks again for hosting!
San
November 4, 2025 at 9:14 amThanks Martha, I am glad you’re here!
Allison McCaskill
November 3, 2025 at 2:44 pmA twin! I didn’t know that. Is it hard to be far away from your twin?
I am about to start trying to bake sourdough – did you blog about it anywhere?
San
November 4, 2025 at 9:15 amYes, it’s very hard to be away from my twin. My sister and I are very close and I miss her a lot.
I have only blogged about my sourdough baking a little bit, but this is a good reminder to maybe fit in a sourdough post during NaBloPoMo!
Nicole MacPherson
November 3, 2025 at 3:13 pmYay San!
Elisabeth
November 3, 2025 at 3:19 pmLove these roundups!!
And what a great group this year; I am getting FOMO ;)
And lots of new names I don’t recognize!
San
November 4, 2025 at 9:15 amWe had a slow start but then the group exploded again LOL so fun to see new faces!
Ernie
November 3, 2025 at 3:20 pmI did not realize you’ve been blogging for 20 years. Wow. I appreciate your organizational skills and love that you keep this event going.
I’m a mom of 8. I run a daycare in my home for teachers. I live in the suburbs of Chicago. I joined this year, because every year I meet new blog friends this month and I have a back log of posts I have either drafted or wanted to draft, and this is the perfect time to share.
San
November 4, 2025 at 9:15 amSo happy you decided to join this year, Ernie! :)
J
November 3, 2025 at 4:51 pmI will confess that I was kind of happy that the number of participants was smaller this year, because it’s hard to visit everyone! BUT I have changed my bad attitude and am looking forward to meeting new folks. And it’s great to see some old friends pop up – last year it was Karen Meg from ‘At a Time’, and this year it’s Martha from ‘Seaside Simplicity’. FUN!
Thank you again for hosting!
San
November 4, 2025 at 9:16 amHaha, Julie, I had the same thought… I was like “oh, it’s ok if we’re a smaller group this year” and then BOOM, the list exploded (but I am not complaining about it).
Tierney
November 3, 2025 at 7:48 pmThis is a great motivation to continue more regular blogging. I just took a month-long trip where I blogged about every day. It really solidified all the experiences in my memory. My main reason for blogging is to document my trips, but I’m open to being more of an every day blogger as well. Thanks for organizing. I also think we should do a Northern CA bloggers meet-up to celebrate the challenge but first, I need to complete it!
San
November 4, 2025 at 9:17 amI think a NorCal blogger meetup is an EXCELLENT idea, Tierney!
Anthea
November 3, 2025 at 8:48 pmThank you for hosting NaBloPoMo again!
It is such a great way to get back into blogging (I’ve been way to infrequent in posting lately).
San
November 4, 2025 at 9:17 amYes, so happy you’re back with this group!
Tobia | craftaliciousme
November 3, 2025 at 11:42 pmI am also so happy to see some new to me face pop up. One person stepped out of the shadows telling me she is reading my blog but never commented so now I can visit her blog – which I already enjoy. Yeah for this community.
I am always touched when I see this group now and compare to the years we were on our own. Only one comment from San under my posts during November. Oh the internet is amazing.
San
November 4, 2025 at 9:18 amHow wonderful you connected with someone who’s been a long time reader!
Thanks for sticking it out with me all these years, friend! It meant a lot.
coco
November 4, 2025 at 3:41 amI love this month of the year because I get back into daily posting, a creative outlet for me, and connect with other bloggers. thanks for hosting San.
I am yet to try peloton bike, I guess it’s not easy to get one outside of the US.
San
November 4, 2025 at 9:19 amI feel the same about this time of year and it gave me a good excuse to try and reengage with the blogging community.
Jenny
November 4, 2025 at 5:33 amNext year will be your NaBloPoMo 20th anniversary!!! I’m also excited about all the new people signing up this year. I’ve met most of my best blogging friends through NaBloPoMo and am looking forward to reading some new-to-me blogs this month.
San
November 4, 2025 at 9:23 amIt’s so cool to see new faces this year! :)
NGS
November 4, 2025 at 7:22 amCount me in as someone who is excited by all the new to me bloggers on the NaBloPoMo list this year! Yay! You’re really keeping this tradition alive, friend.
San
November 4, 2025 at 9:23 amThanks friend. It it a nice tradition and I am always amazed how many people blog the old-school way. Yay!
Suzanne
November 4, 2025 at 8:33 amNew bloggers!!! Yay! I am super excited for that.
I love that you are still baking sourdough. It sounds like such an appealing hobby to me, because I adore sourdough and I love to bake, but dealing with the starter is WAY too intimidating for me.
San
November 4, 2025 at 9:24 amDealing with the starter is really NOT that hard once it is established. I think I might have to write a blog post about it. I understand why people are intimidated but it gets easier with time (my sourdough lives in the fridge most of the time).
Lisa's Yarns
November 4, 2025 at 9:18 amI knew all this about you since I’ve been reading your blog for so many years! I have never participated in NoBloPoMo but I enjoy cheering you all on and commenting as I’m able!
San
November 4, 2025 at 9:25 amI love that we’ve been friends for so long, Lisa and I love that you’re always our biggest cheerleader this time of year!
Michelle G.
November 4, 2025 at 5:28 pmI’m so thrilled that 33 people have joined! This is my first year of NaBloPoMo. I was sure I wasn’t going to participate…and then I decided to go for it. I wanted to try out Substack to see if it’s an option for blogging, and this seemed like a good way to test it thoroughly!
Melissa
November 5, 2025 at 2:58 pmI hope you are back at work soon. Being furloughed is tough. Reading the news, it looks like there might be a bit of movement on that front, so fingers crossed. In the first few days, I was thinking “with the short list of bloggers I shouldn’t have too much trouble keeping up with reading everyone’s posts” … then I popped back and saw the list had possibly doubled?
Sarah
November 6, 2025 at 4:14 amI am so grateful for this wonderful community you have started!