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Nine Years Ago

Nine years ago, today, I began my blogging journey.

You can read that first post here.

Chicky was playing in a soccer tournament in San Diego.  That was a fun trip, even if I was in the middle of my return back to college and had two big papers to write during our trip.

During these nine years of blogging, I’ve published almost 2,300 posts!

I’ve been a pretty regular blogger except for the last year or two.

I have a couple of blog friends who have been with me from the get-go.  Rebecca was the first blogger I connected with, and we’ve been friends from the beginning.

I’ve been friends with Mary for awhile as well, and we actually got to meet a few years ago.  We are hoping to get together when she comes to Podunk, USA during Christmas!

My blog is the place where I chronicled my children’s growing up years.  So many of those years were spent on the road…visiting one soccer field after another.

Over the years, we’ve had a few pets pass away, and we’ve acquired other furry friends.

It’s hard to believe that empty nesting wasn’t even something on my radar when I began blogging.  Now, it’s my station in life.  In fact, we’ll have an “official” celebration in a month when Rooster and N say “I Do” for the second time…only this time extended family and friends will be present.

Over the years, my blog has detailed joys and tears, separations and reunions.

You know.  Life.

I’ve shared traveling adventures (Alaska, the Caribbean, Disney, and Universal) and shopping forays (hello knitting stores in Las Vegas).

And who can forget my recent stories about fitness and vegan baking?

I feel as though this blog is one of my children.

I’ve nurtured it and, in the craziness of life, not paid as much attention to it as I should have.

Maybe it’s more like a fine wine that’s just getting better as it ages.

Yes, I think I like this analogy much better.

heehee

Gosh, y’all, but I’m almost getting emotional as I reminisce.

As shy as I am in-person, I don’t mind sharing things here.

Although I’m nervous about being rejected by “real” people, I don’t have that fear here.

I tell things like they are, hopefully in a way that others find entertaining.

I’m real, not rich monetarily, and…well…just me.

If you ever meet me IRL after reading my blog, I think you’ll find that to be true.

If you’re still reading my blog after all these years, I offer my sincerest thank you for sticking it out.

If you’re new, then I welcome you with open arms and hope you’ll settle in for awhile.

I’m like the weather in Florida.  If you don’t like something, chances are high that I’ll give you something totally different the next day.

Cheers to a great nine years, and here’s to a fantastic 10th!

Happy 1st Blogversary to Me

I can’t believe I let the day slip by without posting about it.  I had the best intentions…even wrote down the date in my calendar.  But did I bother to check my calendar yesterday?  Nope.  Sometimes I wonder why I even carry it around. What is even funnier is that last night’s Prize Puzzle on Wheel of Fortune was “blogger.”  It just didn’t register.

Anyhow, yesterday was my 1st Blogversary!  I’ve been thinking about this for a while now.  What would I do to mark this important milestone?

First off, I thought I take a stroll down memory lane.

One year ago yesterday, November 20, 2007, I was in San Diego.  The family had flown over for Soccer Chick to partipate in a tournament.  We left a few days before the first day of play so we could do some sightseeing.  I was still taking college classes, so I didn’t venture out of the hotel too much.  I missed the trip to the San Diego Zoo, and I also missed the showing of the Dead Sea Scrolls.  I had books to read and papers to write.

Meanwhile, in internet land, I was awaiting my invite to Ravelry.  It arrived on November 20th.  Of course, I had to take a break from my hard work and check out what Ravelry had to offer.  In the process, I got busy setting up my profile.

Now, remember that I am a computer nerd through and through.  I couldn’t help but notice an area on my profile for linking your blog.  This perked my interest.  I began researching blog web sites and decided to use WordPress.  I quickly set up my blog and proceeded to write my first post.  It wasn’t the most clever, but it got me started.  I did manage to get my school work done that weekend, but I was forever changed.  From that point on, I would, in the back of my mind, consider all happenings as possible fodder for my blog.  If you crossed my path, you were not immune to being written about.

Along the way, I have blogged about my pets many times.  This and this and this are a few of my favorite posts about them.  In fact, my second post was about my darling critters.

Another favorite topic is my children.  I wrote about Soccer Chick’s athletic feats in this post, and this one, and this one.  This post, however, is my favorite.  It was like I dug out the very core of my heart and put it out here for all to see.

Rockin’ Rooster has been the topic of several of my posts.  This one and this one and this one are my favorites.

Of course, I’ve had many posts about my knitting.  That was the factor that drove my interest into this thing we call blogging.  What a difficult task to pick out my favorite posts, but here are a few…

Who can forget my first real yarn splurge in VegasThis post drew one of the highest number of views.  This post contains pictures of a project I semi-designed.  I was real proud of it.  And who can forget my Lace Leaf Scarf, detailed here.

Now, I realize that my blog doesn’t generate the kind of stats that might rival the Yarn Harlot’s, but for someone who hasn’t written a book or isn’t an expert in knitting, I can’t complain.

Throughout the year, I’ve written 176 posts, including this one.  Y’all have commented 392 times!  My blog has been viewed 9,397 times.  This stat humbles me.  I never actually expected people to be interested enough to read, let alone comment, on my posts.

I’m proud of the way my writing has developed.  I’ve always fancied myself a woman of letters.  Somehow my spoken words get jumbled together, but when I write…well, the words just seem to pour forth so much easier!

Thank you for the support and encouragement over this past year.  I’ve made some wonderful blogging friends.  I believe that God put us here to glorify Him, first of all, but also to support one another.  You have given back so much more than I ever expected or hoped for.

Here’s to a GREAT year!  May the next year of blogging be even better!