Saturday, November 17, 2007

Happy Bloggity Birthday to Us!!!!

Today it is 1 year since I began this venture into blogworld! :-) *

Not including todays post I have written 232 posts in that time. Who'd have thought I'd find 232 things to talk about? LOL. Those posts are divided up in 52 different labels which I think indicates I'm not so great at sticking to 1 particular topic very often. LOL. By far my most written about topic has been frugality, followed by simple living. Given those 2 things are listed first in my description, I guess I'm kind of on track. :-)

Last November I wrote a grand total of 9 posts!!! So far this November I've written 19 and expect to write a minimum of 30 (if I'm to succeed in Nablopomo).

My lowest month EVER was February this year when I wrote only 1 post!!!! That's a pretty ordinary effort isn't it? LOL. But sometime in June I must have decided to commit to bloggging more seriously as I wrote 24 posts in June, 28 in July and have written over 30 each month since. :-)

If my calculations are correct there have been 1080 comments in the past year! Which is why I've titled this post "Happy Bloggity Birthday to Us" - because without readers and those who take the time to comment, blogging would be rather boring and lonely! So thank you very much for each and every one of those comments. I truly treasure each one!

My first comment ever came from Wendy (who has been very quiet of late - give us a wave Wendy :-) ). Followed closely by Kez (who is still a regular commenter - thanks Kez). The 3rd comment on my first post was by madmal74 (not sure if she's still reading or not).

If you've never read my first post you can find it here . It explains the "Lightening" title (and yes, Lightening is not spelt "Lightning" :-) There's an explanation for that at the bottom of the page if you've not already read it.)

The post with the most comments is On Getting Older which I posted on my birthday this year. It has 24 comments listed. All the kind birthday wishes are part of why I like this post but it also signifies for me the beginning of the emergence of the "real me". Here's an excerpt from that post that sums up why I really enjoyed it:

So, I'm 33 years young and for the first time in my life I feel like I'm truly celebrating the fact that I was born. So in some ways it's really my first true "birthday celebration". Does that make it my *first* birthday? Or perhaps my first *happy* birthday. :-)

Other favourite posts I've written would have to include my series on my journey into simple living:

Post 1: A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step
Post 2: Joe Dominguez
Post 3: Tracking Spending
Post 4: You Cannot Steer a Stationary Ship
Post 5: Living the Dream
Post 6: How Did This Happen?
Post 7: Words of Wisdom
Post 8: Fast Tracking Our Dreams

And also my series on reducing the grocery challenge (I think perhaps I like writing "series" type posts. LOL):

Reducing the Grocery Budget - Part One

Reducing the Grocery Budget - Part Two

Reducing the Grocery Budget - Part Three

Reducing the Grocery Budget - Part Four

And my fairly recent post on The Spirit of Christmas . One of the most fascinating things I have discovered since the start of my blogging journey is how much I learn and grow myself through what I'm writing. If I sound like I "have it all together" then I'm not doing a good job of conveying the "real" me. I'm learning just like everyone else as I journey along the pathway of life.

Well, now I'm going to hand it over to you. Do you have a favourite post that I've written? If so, give it a mention in the comments section. If you've never gotten around to leaving a comment - now would be a great time to say hello. :-) Can we beat my previous highest comment number of 24?


* Photo used above was found at www.birthdaycakeideas.info

10 comments:

Simple Blog Writer said...

Happy Blog Birthday! I just started my blog last month, and I'm pretty sure that your blog was the first where I left a comment. :) It's a friendly place here.
SBW

Anonymous said...

Happy Bloggity Birthday. Has 12 months really gone that fast?????

No particular favourite but I do enjoy reading your blog and have loved the way that you seem to have grown over the last 12 months. You truly are an inspiration in many ways.

Thanks for sharing everything that you have with us, the last 12 months has been a great ride along with you and looking forward to the next 12, and hopefully more

Anonymous said...

Happy blog birthday! I love the way you write, its like you're talking to us, but your simple living journey series is my favourite so far. I'm enjoying the grocery budget series too, which probaby means I enjoy reading series!

Keep on blogging!

Cheers, Briget.

PS Its my son's 20th birthday today as well!

Unknown said...

Happy Blogging Birthday Lightening!!!

I hope you keep on writing for MANY more years to come :)

teachingmum1970 said...

Happy Bloggity Birthday from here. I'm off to check when mine was!

Kez said...

Happy blog b'day! Thanks for the wrap-up of your journey so far :)

Anonymous said...

Happy Blog Birthday! I love reading your blog. I always feel that I'm sitting down having a chat with a very dear friend when I'm reading it.

Love Kendall

lightening said...

SBW - I'm honoured that you first commented her on my blog. :) I'm glad you find it a friendly place.

Hey P (now that I know who you are ;-) ) - thanks. Won't be long now and it'll be 2 years since my breakdown!!! It's unreal isn't it!

Briget - I'm glad it sounds like I'm talking to you. I guess that's how I think when I'm writing. Happy Birthday to your DS - hope he had a good day. I bet those 20 years feel like they flew by!

Ali - thank you. I hope I keep writing for a while yet too. I'm having too much fun to stop now. LOL.

Teachingmum1970 - thank you.

Kez - thank you for coming along for the ride! :) You've taught me a lot!

Kendall - why you are having a chat with a good friend! :) Great to hear from you. I was wondering if you'd dropped out of circulation. You going okay?

Unknown said...

Hi, I've been reading your blog for a while but have never left a comment before. I'm loving your grocery budget posts - cause this is an area I need real help with.

Anonymous said...

Happy Blog-day to you!

You are one of the people that made me take the plunge into Blogdom. I *think* my first comment was on your birthday.... not sure.

Wow a year! I am celebrating 3 months today, LMAO, I hope that I am still going strong in a year. That is if NaBloPoMo doesn't kill me first!

Love ya!