Milestones

I just took a look at my first post and realized how far things have come since then.  July 25th will mark the 1 year "Blogoversary" of Never Grow Up.  This post is my 176th blog post.  I am currently at 86 followers and over 33,000 page views.  If someone would have told me a year ago what to expect from this little project I'd started, I would never have believed them.  And I have all of you, my wonderful readers, to thank for all of this! 

I started blogging at a time when I was feeling lonely and disconnected.  My two closest childhood friends had recently moved away, and it was in the middle of the typical long, crazy summer hours my husband works at Coca Cola.  I was home all day, by myself, with the three girls.  I was going completely stir crazy!!! 

My blogging has given me a creative outlet.  It's been a way to share the things I love with others.  I've made new friends with similar interests that I might never have met otherwise.  I've even discovered new interests, like photography. 

It sounds so silly now, but after a senior trip to Washington, D.C., one of my friends made joking comments about how I cut the tops off of all of the buildings in the photos I took.  I was really embarrassed by this.  In her defense, she was completely correct.  I was a horrible photographer.  And you know, I let that one silly comment scare me away from cameras for the longest time.  But then I started watching Youtube channels like stephenswodadancer's and starlightharp's (this one, sadly, is no longer on Youtube.  I miss you, Sitara!!), and I started seeing gorgeous doll photos like those taken by AGSisters.  I was hooked.  I wanted to try to capture the same beautiful photos on my own.  It has been such a joy to discover that I not only enjoy photography, but I'm not half bad at it! :) 

I may have droned on about this stuff in earlier posts, so I apologize if that's the case.  I don't have as much time as I'd like to read through my old posts and make sure I'm not repeating myself! :{  Thanks for being patient with me. :)

Anyway, I'd love to do something special for my Blogoversary.  I'm not sure what I'll do yet.  If I do a giveaway, it will have to be a pretty small one.  I'll keep brainstorming and let you guys know what I come up with.  The next two weeks will pretty much be committed to Vacation Bible School, and then I'll be a little bit more free. :)  I know, I know, I keep saying that over and over again, too.  It's been a pretty long day, so my brain power is not exactly where it should be tonight. ;)

I think it would be so nifty to reach my 100 followers goal by July 25th.  I mean, how cool would that be, to get to 100 followers in a year?  I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens.  Even if I don't reach 100 by then, I have so much to be thankful for.

So thanks again, everyone!  Keep reading, and keep those comments coming.  They really make my day! :D  I can't wait to see what the next year of blogging has in store.