I cannot believe it has been one full year today since I started this little piece of internet craftiness. It almost slipped by unnoticed, but as I was scrolling through my list of posts, I realized the date on my first post and got super excited!
A whole year!
365 days!
195 posts (counting this one)!
Over 50,000 visitors! (This shocks me, seriously.)
It has been exciting, wonderful, sometimes stressful, educational, and always fun! Here's a little recap of the past year on One Tough Mother:
TOP 5 POSTS
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I've learned a lot over the past year - technical stuff like designing my own blog buttons, inserting HTML code, etc. But the best lessons are the things I didn't know I'd learn...
Friends come in all shapes and sizes. I have made so many new "friends" in the blog world over the past year. I had no idea the sense of community was so strong. It's amazing - we all live everywhere, spread out across oceans and continents, yet we get to know one another because of the power of the written word and shared interests. Some of my best new "friends" are Rebecca from Simple As That, Christine from The D.I.Y. Dreamer, Karyn from Pint-Sized Baker, and Bethany from Pitter & Glink, just to name a few. These ladies regularly comment and show love on the blog, and for that I am so grateful!
It's best to share. I grew my little blog via Facebook, Pinterest, and linky parties. Google + and blog link sites, like Bloglovin, are my newest additions to the love fest. You never know what people will like and how they can be affected by what you do. I have had some of the sweetest emails from people who saw one of my blog posts on Pinterest, or a friend shared it with their friend who shared it with them on Facebook, and so on. Blows my mind...
Real life comes first. Always. I've had to take breaks to deal with reality and I usually feel guilty for a couple days. But I know that my family is the most important thing in the world, as it is with all of you wonderful readers, so I know that you understand when real life gets in the way of my regular blogging. This blog has become therapeutic for me, though, and I'm always so glad to get back to it!
Change is a good thing. When I started this blog, it had no real direction or goal. It was just a means for me to vent sometimes, share the occassional craft sometimes.... I have changed a lot in the past year, showing my crafts as tutorials, scrapbooking layous, organizational ideas, and even a few recipes. I also occassionaly share snippets of my life behind the scenes. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching One Tough Mother adapt and grow into what it has now become, and I'm anxious for the next year!
Thank you for being a part of this ride with me. It's because of all of you that I'm still here.
God bless!
HAPPY 1st ANNIVERSARY my dear friend!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you wrote!!! And I'm soooo happy you are back!
Congratulations on your Blogiversary! :) I consider you one of my best bloggy friends too. I look forward to what you have in the works for the upcoming year. i know it will be AWESOME!
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