I joined lj in 2001 (I think), and so it has been a part of my life for a long time. Back then, it was a great place to meet fun, smart, like-minded people. Somehow, inferior mediums like facebook and twitter have erupted since then, and I miss a lot of great people who have left lj, but there are a few of us still around, and I'm grateful for that. Lj was a great place to grow up.
A lot has changed since the early days for me on a personal level. When I joined lj, I was a single young urban woman. Now, I am a small-town, happily married old homeschooling matron raising four young children (and a fifth on the way).