Why am I doing this? Here's my novella on that very topic.

First, let me say this is a work in progress.  I felt like typing and getting things off my chest and getting this blog started.  I was tired of going through different templates again and again trying to find something I like, but something simple and easy to read.  Apparently I'm too picky.

Second, I've been asking myself what do I want to do with this blog.  (Good thing to establish right away I think.)  What I've decided is that it's going to be many things.  Primarily it will be a way for me to get the completely random thoughts swimming around in my head out, kind of a virtual journal.  I'm going to write it with the intent of letting other people read it so it's not going to be all "Dear Diary" but more of a conversation.  My close friends can tell you that they don't actually need to talk much when I get on a roll of getting jumbled thoughts out; I just like knowing that someone is actually taking the time to listen and try to help me sort out my thoughts.  Since I've been living in Korea I haven't had a lot of that, it's been lonely here.  And as wonderful as my husband is, he just can't sit and listen to me get through those conversations, he tries to help fix things and come up with solutions.  I love him, but he doesn't get it sometimes. 

Third, (I love lists and numbering things) this will be a way for our family and friends to keep up with what's going on.  The important thing to remember is this blog will be public in that people I don't know can and will probably read it.  It's going to be apparent that my husband is in the military, it's going to be apparent he's deployed at some point, and knowing me I'm going to express my frustrations and opinions on here.  That being said I will do everything in my power to protect myself and my husband; yes I'm going to do my damnedest to follow OPSEC and PERSEC guidelines.  (And here would be where I was going to include a nice link to allow everyone who doesn't know what OPSEC and PERSEC actually means read up on it.)  Alas, there isn't a nice little explanation because no one on the internet agrees what these two mean.  So instead you get my version.  To all my military savvy family and friends you can read to tell me I'm wrong, get a different spin on these hot topics or just skip this entirely.  If I find a nice textbook definition I'll post it.  (Or if someone has one please pass it along to me!)

My Personal Definitions of OPSEC and PERSEC

1. OPSEC is an acronym for Operation Security or Operational Security (depends on who you talk to, what their background is and how well they spell).  The key here is not to reveal anything that may place missions, service members, civilians, intelligence or any information about the aforementioned things to the enemy so they can use it in any way, shape or form.  So DO NOT use any dates here (or any where else for that matter) about when troops are moving, when the husband's deploying, what his unit is, or anything else along those lines.  If you're not sure if you should post it, don't post it.  It's better to be safe than sorry.  OPSEC is about protecting operations.
2. PERSEC is an acronym for Personal Security; information about people.  So I'm not going to tell you enough information that you can figure out how to get to my house or when I'll be home alone or give you the inside track on how to steal my financial information.  PERSEC is about protecting yourself and your personal information.

So what does following OPSEC and PERSEC mean?  It means I'm not going to tell you dates on here for anything questionable.  You won't know what day the husband's leaving for deployment, what day he gets back, the day leaves for training, when my house will be empty, etc.  Are you going to be able to figure out he's deployed?  Yeah.  Are you going to be able to figure out that he's not always home?  Yeah.  I'm not doing this to be mean, I'm not keeping secrets from people because I don't like them.  I'm doing it to keep the husband, myself and other people safe.  I'm doing this because I care more about service members making it home to their families alive than about my Mom knowing the date the husband's duffel is no longer taking up valuable closet space.  (Hi Mom!  Love you!) 

Some people will say that my approach is overkill, some will say I'm not doing enough, but I will share only what my husband and I feel is warranted.  This is the world wide web, I don't know who is reading this and I don't want my blog to be the reason some one's husband, wife, Daddy, Mommy, Aunt, Uncle, cousin, fiance, friend or foe can't come home the day they're supposed to.

And lastly, the final reason I'm going to write this blog is because I want to practice writing again.  I miss putting my thoughts to paper.  I still harbor that secret, buried deep down, tiny ray of a dream that I can be a published author.  To write, I need to write.  There is is friends, my first big secret revealed via this blog.  I've wanted to be an author for as long as I can remember.  I've always harbored a secret dream to be published, for people to read my words and think "wow, that was a great story but MAN does her grammar suck!"  Seriously.  I know my grammar sucks, but you should see what this would look like without spell check!

So I'm going to assume (yeah I know I'm probably making an ass out of myself here) that you're asking yourself what I mean by the title "My Life, Not Lorelai Gilmore's." 

Here's my thought process:

• When I was little, and still sometimes now, my Grammy called me Laura Lye.  I liked that she called me that, she didn't call anyone else in the family Laura Lye.  No one else was named Laura, so it just didn't make sense.  She could call all of us sweetie, or hun, or any other numerous terms of endearment.  I was the only Laura Lye.  I decided I like Lorelai spelling a lot better, and it reminds me less of a soap experience that makes my skin hurt 20 years later.
• I really like the show Gilmore Girls, I own all seven seasons on DVD and watch them over and over again.  It was on the WB and stared Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel.  It is a great show, well written (until season 7), full of whit, sarcasm and numerous references to books, music, people, pop culture and so many other random things I can't tell you how the writers did it. 
• I began to imagine what my life would be like if I were more like Lorelai Gilmore.  She had good clothes, great shoes, loved her hair, her enormous knowledge of pop culture, books, etc.  She was well spoken, funny, smart, hard working, beautiful.  I wanted a fictional character's life.  Obviously that didn't happen.  I didn't go off the deep end, trying to turn myself into Lorelai Gilmore, but I did have envy.  (Who hasn't envied a fictional character though?)
• Lately I've been unhappy, and I've been evaluating why I'm feeling this way.  That's part of the reason I started this blog, to get it all out.  One of the things I'm doing is celebrating my life, my choices.  I'm about to turn 30 and I'm looking back on what I've accomplished so far and enjoying what I've done; I'm embracing that this is my life.  It's not anyone else's, all the choices I've made have been mine.  I'm owning my life for lack of a better term.  
• The blog name came about from that decison, to celebrate who I am.  Other than a few months in kindergarten where I REALLY wanted to be Maverick's girlfriend from Top Gun, Lorelai Gilmore was the fictional character I wanted to be. 

So this blog will be about me, about what I think, about what crazy or normal things I'm currently doing.  It will involve the plethera of family and friends I have already and those I've yet to meet.  It will involve stories about Nigel the cute, crazy, most likely gay Cocker Spaniel we rescued from the streets of Seoul.  It is about my life, not Lorelai Gilmore's.