THREE YEAR BLOG ANNIVERSARY

*crashes in with streamers and balloons and glitter and upbeat tunes and cookies and PIZZAAA!*

Happy Saturday! I'm assuming that you've read the title of this post, but in case you have something against blog titles and skipped it over... it's my three year blog anniversary! (it's technically tomorrow... but I'm celebrating it today since I always post on Saturdays so close enough)

Today I'm going to take a lil' nostalgic trip back through my blogging journey. Last year I went ALL OUT for my two year anniversary -- giveaway! fancy pictures! elaborate Q+A video! Naturally, this year's celebration should be bigger and even more extravagant. The longer I blog the better I'm supposed to become, right?

Heh. Well, yes. Supposedly.

I don't have anything complicated and wonderful planned -- just an overview. I had the idea of sending everyone a pizza so we could all eat and celebrate together, but that didn't end up working (surprise, surprise). Instead I'll eat pizza all lonely-like in my own house, and you can do the same from wherever in the world you live. Deal?

I could go on and on about pizza, but it's probably best to move on. Insert celebration post. :)

the pictures in this post are from my cousin's extremely aesthetic wedding <3 <3 <3

STATS

AFTER ONE YEAR OF BLOGGING // 2015

followers: 121
posts: 82.

AFTER TWO YEARS OF BLOGGING // 2016

followers: 308
posts: 144

AFTER THREE YEARS OF BLOGGING // today!!

followers: 504
posts: 176

TOTAL PAGEVIEWS: 185,233

TOTAL COMMENTS: 7,965

I share these stats, not to brag (not that there's much bragging to do, ha) but to show that growing a blog takes time. It means posting consistently, getting your name out in the blogosphere, and producing quality content. Keeping a blog means hard work, but ultimately doing it because you enjoy the process and the challenge. 

I truly do enjoy blogging -- especially with how it's brought me new friends and experiences and opportunities and the chance to shout my love for stories and pizza across the internet (and write really long run-on sentences *cough*). Does that mean I enjoy every single part of blogging? No. I don't enjoy pounding out a post at two in the morning or trying to break my brain over HTML coding. But when I'm able to finish that blog post anyway, or conquer the coding... that makes the frustration worth it. It's certainly taught me a lot about perseverance. :P

One of the most helpful things I've learned throughout blogging is how important it is for me to keep a schedule. There's that expectation set up for the readers from the start whether it be a post a day or a post a month. But a schedule keeps me accountable. It's hard for me to say "I'll post on Saturday!" and then not follow through on that. I've kept this up for three years in a row, so it's obviously worked out fairly well. ;)

Posting every week on Saturday means a lot of late Friday nights for me. Some teens spend their Friday nights partying, blasting music, eating food, staying up long past midnight. I also do this. Just exchange the partying with blog post writing. :P

*awkward transition* Let's look at the most popular posts, eh? My most viewed one from all time is How Writing Has Shaped My Everyday Life. That post was inspired by a question Emily Drown asked, so thank you for that, Emily. You're fabulous. :P

how writing has shaped my everyday life

NaNo Week #3 // Snow, Snippets, and A Sluggish Brain is my second most viewed post?? Which is a bit strange, since it's nothing special?? I'm a bit confused by that, but... okay. xD

nano week #3 // snow, snippets, and a sluggish brain

Finally, Being Real is my third most viewed post. It's a collection of thoughts about life and how we present ourselves on the internet. Ultimately, it's a promo post for a collaborative post for Burning Youth. I haven't posted much on there, still, but I'm looking forward to more in the future. :D

being real // burning youth

It's been an incredible, crazy year of blogging. I've made new friends, hit 1,000 followers on Twitter, gone to conferences, and taken more pictures which I am posting semi-consistently on Instagram. (and I'm planning on posting more often so let's become insta buddies xD)

And can you believe that I've now had this blog design for an entire year? I'm very happy I haven't accidentally destroyed the coding while experimenting a few times... (oops)

I'm looking forward to this next year of blogging. NaNo is looming ever closer, and I've been brainstorming blog topics so I don't have that last minute panic of, "ohmygoshIhavenoideawhattopostandit'stenatnightonfriday" (good luck deciphering that.)

There are so many people I want to thank. If you do comment, make sure to check back for my reply because I really want to take the time to individually appreciate all you lovely people who never fail to brighten my day with your words. That's my favorite part of blogging: making friends with other readers and writers!

Here's to another amazing year. <3

<3,
katie grace

[also, before you leave... my good friend Athelas is setting up a blog tour for Bryan Davis! If you want to feature him and the book (a MG superhero novel which sounds positively epic o.o) on your blog... sign up here.]

how long have you been blogging for?

thank you for celebrating!