Casey Carey-Brown has most of the past 15 years in the public eyethrough her words.
She started blogging with an online journal, LiveJournal, in 1999 after coming out. "There, I connected with an LGBTQ community I didn't know existed," she said.
"[Blogging has] always been a place to connect with like-minded people, find support, and be challenged. Before online journaling, I always kept a personal written journal. I've always been a writer, but I found that I got so much more out of writing online."
Carey-Brown, 35, lives in Boston with her wife, Michelle Carey-Brown, 39; and their 4-year-old daughter, Riley Carey-Brown, nicknamed Roozle.
Casey now authors the blog LifeWithRoozle.com, which discusses various family issues.
"I blog because I just can't stop. I love it," she said. "I blog every day and write not just for myself anymore. As a parent blogger, I especially find that being tied into a bigger community makes me a better parent and a more thoughtful person
"One of my friends once told me, 'If you ever think you're not good enough, go back to the beginning and see how far you've come.' Blogging, especially blogging every day, has made me a better writer and a better person. I studied creative writing in college, but never imagined I'd have the opportunity to write online to an audience every day."
Carey-Brown has about 3,000 online followers.
"When Michelle and I decided to start our family, I began blogging more publicly and eventually started Life with Roozle," she said. "The best part of the blog is the challenge as a writer, thinker, and parent. The worst part is definitely the struggle with finding the time. I can always make the time, but it's often not as much as I'd like.
"The overall response to my blog has been really positive. The blog gives me the opportunity to present a two-mom family as a regular family. We have regular parenting and life issues. We're not all that different most of the time."
Carey-Brown said the funniest part of the blog has been her daughter's response to it. "She loves it and sees me working on it quite a bit on weekends. She calls it Life About Roozle and sometimes offers suggestions of what I should write about. It's usually something about how much she loves climbing and singing."
Carey-Brown said she is very careful to not write about issues her wife and daughter wouldn't want published. In fact, she sometimes reads posts to her wife before publishing to make sure she approves.
Casey and Michelle met in 2003 at a war protest. They didn't have the chance to talk to each other that day, but both remember the sighting. They ran into each other at a bar a few nights later and recognized each other from the protest. "In fact, when I walked into the bar, she was just telling her friend about seeing a cute girl at the protest and how she wished she asked me for my number," Casey said. "We started dating right away and were married the following year when same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts."
Casey said she always wanted to have children. That's not so for Michelle.
"We started planning our family pretty quickly in our relationship and agreed upon a five-year plan," Casey said. "We ended up trying to get pregnant earlier than that plan, but it took a while. Riley was born just two months before our five-year wedding anniversary."
And yes, Riley does understand, even at only 4, that she has two moms.
"We've talked quite a bit about different families and even a bit about discrimination and homophobia," Casey said. "She's pretty horrified by the thought of that, but gets it."
Riley refers to Casey as Mommy, and Michelle as Mama.
"Her friends are quick to correct their parents or other children who get it wrong; it's pretty funny," Casey said.
Casey's coming-out in '99 was tricky for sure, even to her friends, she said. At the time, she had just finished up a few years as an evangelical Christian missionary and was studying theology at a Baptist university. "I got a lot of 'I love you, but hate the sin,'" Casey said.
Her church essentially kicked her out, she said.
Casey also lost a lot of close friends.
"It was a hard time," she said. "My family and a few close friends were very supportive, though, so I wasn't left completely alone. It was more of a transition than anything else. I had to leave the church and a community I had worked hard to find my place in. Having a community online helped with that more than anything else."
Casey appeared this summer at BlogHer in Chicago, and was honored as a Voice of the Year. She read a piece about becoming a Christian, then being asked to leave the church when she came out. Plus, she spoke on a panel with the creators of the Modern Family television show about having my own modern family.