We are joining the This ‘N That Thursday blog hop hosted by 2 Brown Dawgs. “A little of this, a little of that, and everything inbetween“.
My First Blogiversary
Yesterday was my first blogiversary! I cannot believe that it has been a year that I’ve been writing this now. My first post on that date was just a “Welcome”, outlining my plans for the blog, and inviting people to read. It actually garnered 7 comments. They were all from family and friends, but that still counts, right? They gave me encouragement that was much appreciated at the time. I didn’t actually write my first “real” post until September 1st. I’m not sure why it took me 10 days to write the next one, I guess that first one wore me out. More likely it was the whole setting up of the website and WordPress that wore me out!
I think I’ve stuck pretty well to what my original plan for the blog was. What surprised me the most about this was how much inspiration I have gotten from fellow pet bloggers. They not only have inspired my writing topics, but they have inspired me to be a better pet Mom. I have learned so much, and I hope I have maybe helped others also. My first header looked like this:
Then I had a friend design a logo and I had that for a while, but decided to design my own with my dogs in it. I hope to have a new one at some point soon too. There are still a lot of things I want to do with the blog esthetically, and more things I want to learn to include such as videos. But so far so good: I have written 143 posts and have 1628 comments; that does count my own comments, but excludes spam – there’s probably been thousands of spam comments! So far I haven’t experienced any writer’s block, in fact, I have a mile long list of topics I have yet to get to!
Awards
I was thrilled to be nominated for two blogging awards recently. I love receiving these awards because being recognized by my fellow bloggers means a lot to me. One of the best things about blogging is being part of this community. The first one was The Versatile Blogger award from Dogs ‘N Pawz. I already thanked the gang over there for sharing this great award with me! I am also supposed to share 7 things about myself and pass the award on to 15 other blogs.
I am going to share one thing about each of the members of our household:
- Our cat Conrad used to be an outdoor cat when we first got him. Now he is an indoor cat and more than happy with that.
- On the other hand, our cat Samantha has been an indoor cat since the day we got her, but she lives to try to sneak out the door when we aren’t looking!
- One of Cricket’s favorite ways to sleep is this:
- Kobi hasn’t played with toys for years and years. He used to play with toys with his sister Maggie a lot, but once she was gone I don’t remember ever seeing him with one.
- Sheba doesn’t play with her stuffy toys as much since her brother Moses has been gone either. Does that seem strangely similar to what happened with Kobi and toys?
- When I was a child my favorite toy was a stuffed dog named Lucy. I kept her well into my twenties. Someday I hope to have a dog I can name Lucy, and that she also lives into her twenties!
- Long before I knew my husband he had an Irish Setter named Randy. Randy was very high energy and even jumped through a window once (he was okay). I think it was not long after that Randy went to live on a farm where he could expend all that energy better!
The next award was from Jack and the crew over at SlimDoggy, the Super Sweet Blogging Award. There are questions to be answered for this award. I actually received this award way back in January (that makes me a two time award winner! :)), so I am cutting and pasting my answers from the post I wrote then (they would still be the same):
- Cookies or cake? Absolutely cake. The only reason I still want to celebrate my birthdays is so I can get cake.
- Chocolate or vanilla? Vanilla for sure. I am not a chocolate nut like a lot of people are. I always have to be different. I like chocolate, but especially with ice cream will always choose vanilla first.
- What is your favorite sweet treat? York Peppermint Patties. I like the mini ones. Just two will satisfy my sweet cravings, and that is a good thing.
- When do you crave sweet things the most? All of the time! I inherited a relentless sweet tooth from my father.
- If you had a sweet nickname, what would it be? I do have one! My husband always calls me “Honey”.
This is also supposed to be passed on, but I am going to cop out on that part for both of these awards. Frankly, most of the blogs I would have nominated are already on the lists from Dogs ‘N Pawz, and SlimDoggy. I was honored to be in such good company!
Happy anniversary and good luck as your blog grows. Blogging can be a lot of fun if your blogging on your passion.
Thank you! It really is a lot of fun, though way more time consuming than I anticipated! Now I’m hooked though!
Happy Blogiversary and congrats on the awards!
It was fun learning more about you and the pups. 🙂
Thank you, Donna! It was hard to try to come up with some tidbits about all of us that I hadn’t already talked about over and over! 🙂
Happy Blogiversary! My Blogiversary is coming up soon too and it’s kind of exciting 🙂 You got more comments on my first post lol… Mine had ZERO! It’s funny but most of the things you mention here about blogging I was thinking “me too!” in my head.
Thank you, Ann! Mine kind of snuck up on me….I couldn’t believe a year had gone by already, and I did actually have to look it up to figure out my start date! Well, I really had to beg my family and friends to please read my blog and leave a comment too! 🙂
I also have a permanent sweet tooth! Kobi is so cute!
Kobi thanks you! That sweet tooth is my downfall as far as keeping the weight off! lol
Congrats on your anniversary and award!
Thank you, Bren!
Congrats on some very well deserved awards! 🙂
Thank you!
Congrats on your blogoversary and the awards! Love how Cricket is laying in that pic. Our last pup loved to lay like that! Rita does it once in a while. So cute.
Thank you, Jackie! The other dogs lay like that occasionally, but Cricket does far more often than they do (she also snores….lol).
Happy Blogoversary! Here’s to many more years of blogging! And congrats on your awards!
Thank you, Island Cats! I sure hope I can keep going for many more years….it has been lots of fun so far!
Congratulations on one year! That time does cruise by fast! Cheers to the next year!
Thank you, Emma! The time certainly did go by fast!
Happy 1st Anniversary, Jan, congrats! I am totally enjoying keeping up with your blog, it’s been cool in so many ways.
Thanks, Lynn! So glad you’re still sticking with me! 🙂
Thanks so much for participating in TNT! Congrats on your first year. And big congrats on your awards! Well deserved.
Thank you so much! Thanks for hosting the blog hop too, I enjoy it.
Hi Y’all!
Congratulations! Well deserved!
Y’all come by now,
Hawk aka BrownDog
Thank you, Hawk!!
Hi Jan! I think this might be my first time stopping by… I think. Congratulations on your first blogiversary!!! I haven’t reached mine yet… just started blogging a few months ago. I would like to change the aesthetics of my blog as well. Lots of work to do! It currently looks very girly, and well, I’m about as un-girly as they come, lol. I like your patriotic theme, though. Who can argue with patriotism? 🙂
And congratulations on your awards!! I don’t blame you for copping out on nominating other blogs ;). I love tons of other blogs, but the nominating part is actually kind of a pain. I’ve only received one award so far, and part of it was nominating 13 other blogs. WOOF! It took a while!
Congrats again on your first year!
Thank you, Pam, I’m so glad you stopped by! There’s actually a story behind the patriotic theme, which I guess I’ll have to write about sometime!
I just kind of wish the awards were just a little easier…maybe nominate 4 or 5 blogs or something like that! I could probably manage that. 🙂
Thanks so much for voting for Phe! We really appreciate the votes and congratulations on your blogiversary! That is so cool! Have a great weekend 🙂
You’re welcome. Thank you for the congrats, and have a great weekend too!
Congrats on your 1 year anniversary, Jan! You’re doing great things with your blog, so keep it up! I’m learning a lot from you! 🙂
Thank you, Sheryl! Your support and encouragement go a long way towards keeping me going!
🙂 So happy to hear that! Forgot to say congrats on the awards too, and I love the patriotic theme as well.
Thanks Sheryl!