I can’t believe this was a year ago and here I sit now typing this, what will be my 322nd blog post, a freelance blogger and writer scarcely able to believe how much has changed in a year. You see, I didn’t start off slowly – looking back I can see that I jumped in feet first and oh boy am I glad that I did. I went straight to self-hosted and always owned my own domain – I started out using my own email straight away too and never had an @gmail or @hotmail or anything at all. I also didn’t think “Ooo I’d like to start a blog!” and begin publishing right away… oh no! I spent a month writing before launching – writing posts on anything and everything to give myself a good head start… in fact I created enough to see me through Christmas and well into the New Year. I couldn’t have done it without my sister who spent that month before launch building my first ever website for me (she also had a hand in re-building and creating my current one too!)
So much has changed in this past year – did you know that before I started blogging, I had never used Twitter or Instagram and now they are my favourite social media platforms?! I am not sure I remember a time without them and thank goodness I learnt how to use them fast as they have opened so many doors for me I cannot even begin to explain.
I am not really sure when I started calling myself a “Blogger” though I officially went self-employed back in April so I suppose you could say that is when I “turned pro” but honestly all that mattered to me to begin with was that I found a job that allowed me to stay at home with Alyssa but it has brought me so so so much more. Not only am I able to be with her every morning and every night, I am also able to support the both of us doing a job that I can honestly say I absolutely love. I have never really loved any of my jobs – they were merely jobs I happened to fall into because I was trained or good at something and whilst it is easy to get very burnt out blogging because you are often never able to turn off, I completely adore it and wouldn’t change it for the world.
Some of my favourite posts this past year have been:
nal Ad: Blogger Seeks Tribe – despite the success of some of my other posts, this has by far got to be my most successful one – not in page views or comments or shares or anything like that. This post brought me my tribe and now almost a year old, we have a thousand followers on Twitter, a very active Facebook, a chat that never sleeps and I have friends who I know will be friends for like and ones I share everything with. My blog brought me them. 
My blog is still so young and yet I cannot imagine a time when it wasn’t such a huge part of my life. If I ever have a problem, it seems the one thing that really helps me deal with an issue is writing it down. Having a good “word-vomit” moment and getting it all out and hitting publish. Sometimes, I still get nervous about how a post will be received but then I think that it doesn’t matter because ultimately my blog is for me and anyone else who happens to enjoy it is a complete bonus.
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31 Comments
Happy blog birthday lovey! You’ve done bloody brilliantly! Xxx
Congratulations. It can be so easy to look forward and think that we are not where we want to be in life because we have aspirations. But it is wonderful to take a look back and see where we have come from. Happy first blog birthday! #ablogginggoodtime
Congrats on a year! I can’t believe how organised you were in setting up your blog and running it professionally. I have so much respect for how hard you have worked, and it’s clearly paid off – you should be proud of how much you have achieved, and it can only get better from here. đŸ™‚ #ablogginggoodtime
Congratulations! You have achieved so much and you should be very proud. It’s an amazing milestone hitting a year! #ablogginggoodtime
Happy blog anniversary! You achieved so much in one year hurrah! I wish you the same success (and even better) in the future year. xx
#ablogginggoodtime
aww this is lovely! I love your introduction – I could feel the emotions so well – that feeling when you first hit publish! Seriously well done on an amazing year – I’m almost there too – and what a year but I am no where near your number of posts – amazing achievement my lovely! Raising my glass of bubbles to you lovely. Glad to have got to know you through the tribe xx #ablogginggoodtime
Awwwww, Happy Bloggy Birthday! You have achieved so much in a year! Thank goodness for the tribe too and thank you for setting it up! It’s just brilliant how blogging has given you so much. Here is to more exciting blogging adventures in 2017 #Ablogginggoodtime
Thank you my lovely xx
Congratulations on your first year! It sounds like an amazing year, full of great achievements. Keep your enthusiasm, as it brings inspiration for us, who are just a few months old!:) #ablogginggoodtime
Happy blog birthday! Wow, you really did dive in head first. It looks like it has well and truly paid off tho. It’s great you are working in a job that you love. That is SO important, but so often overlooked. #ablogginggoodtime
Thanks lovely xx
Happy Blogiversary to you! I’m new to your blog and still new to blogging myself, but I loved reading this and get the feeling that you’re so passionate about doing this, and your achievements so far are brilliant! Look forward to getting to know you better đŸ™‚
Awww thank you and you too. Welcome to blogland xx
^^ Oops, forgot to tag #ablogginggoodtime đŸ™‚
Oh wow you are so much like me with the social media side. I had never used twitter and it’s taken me all year to really start to get it! I am slow with catching on but now I have started to build up a little network with fab people like you I am getting there. Well done, I cannot believe how much you have achieved in such a short amount of time! #ablogginggoodtime
Happy bloggy birthday! One year really is an accomplishment!
amazing what youve achieved in a year – i hope youre really proud of yourself ! #ablogginggoodtime
I’m impressed! You achieve so much only in one year. I would love to achieve at least half of it:D Congratulations and happy Blogiversary:)
#ablogginggoodtime
congratulations! I’m just getting started with my blog and its great to read your experiences a year in! #ablogginggoodtime
Congratulations! You’ve done such a lot in such a short amount of time. I bet Allysa will be so proud of you when she’s old enough to understand what a brave and clever mummy she has. I’d never used Twitter before starting blogging either and now I really love it đŸ™‚ #ABloggingGoodTime
Absolutely go for a world blog take over – we are right behind you!!! Huge congratulations – you are one of my inspirations in the blogging world and I love reading about things going on with you and your gorgeous Alyssa – here’s to many more years of blogging greatness đŸ™‚ #ablogginggoodtime
Reading this has given me so much hope! I started blogging nearly a year ago and was definitely not as organised as you as I didn’t have anything in the pipeline, just my first post. But it just seemed to me that there must be a way to be at home, be a mum, do something I love and earn a living from it. I’m not earning anything yet, but I know these things take time and I truly believe I will get there! Happy blog birthday! #ablogginggoodtime
Congratulations on your blog birthday! All the best for the year ahead! #ablogginggoodtime
Congratulations. You were very brave! x
#ablogginggoodtime
congratulations! Thats a lot of work done in a year’s time! #blogginggoodtime
Wow, congrats, you were super organised at the beginning. 322 posts, cripes, what a wonderful achievement. Well done you xx #ablogginggoodtime
Happy first birthday to your awesome blog. I can only hope this time next year I will be half as successful as you! (Total envy of those who can stay at home and blog full time) #ablogginggoodtime
Happy blogversary and well done for achieving so much in just one year! I always think of you as a super blogger and I love reading your fabulous and honest posts x #ablogginggoodtime
Wow only a year. You’ve achieved soooo much. #ablogginggoodtime
Sounds like you did a lot of pre-planning – that’s a lot of scheduled posts! #ablogginggoodtime
great post! really inspiring read and congratulations on everything you have achieved!