One Year

One year ago I published my first blog (you can read the very first one by clicking here), and because I celebrate milestones, I want to share with you the categorical highlights of my blogging year...and hopefully convince you to start blogging as well!

Category #1 - Favorite Post

"Dear Students" (click here to read).  After reading through all of my posts just the other day, this one is still my favorite.  I remember how frustrated I'd gotten that day with my students, and that post came tumbling out in less than 20 minutes!  Maybe I should get riled up more often, and maybe I should consider including the letter in my spring semester syllabus.

Category #2 - Favorite Response

From Stacey Marie Kerr, the author of a book on natural childbirth, whom I quoted in a summer entry (read it here).  She found my blog and took the time to leave a kind comment.  You  never know who might stumble across your writing!

Category #3 - Favorite Reason to Blog

I have a record of this past year's journey, in my own words.  And unlike a journal, where I do not feel compelled to craft my structure and style, these entries reflect my writing craftsmanship.

Category #4 - Posts that I Didn't Publish

"Why We GDiaper"
"Adventures"
"Spontaneous Getaway"
"The Perfection of Summer"
"Sister Wives"

Until I began to think back over this past blogging year, I'd forgotten about these posts -- most of which were simply titles or only one paragraph long.  Who knows what deterred me from finishing those posts; perhaps I'll revist them in 2011!

Category #5 - My Stats

A couple of months ago I discovered that Blogger tracks your blog statistics, which I find keenly interesting because they tell a story all their own.  For example, I've published 38 posts since December 2009, which roughly works out to writing three posts per month (not too bad considering I often feel guilty about not blogging, which is ridiculous because it's my blog, my project, and it doesn't matter!).  Blogger also tells me that my blog has been viewed 2,431 times, Facebook and other blogs direct most of traffic here, and the keywords that actually land people on my blog are random.  The story of Reed's birth was viewed almost 200 times, but only about 1/4 as many people found the entry on "Saving" interesting.  I'm usually not a numbers person but these intrigue me and help me re-envision my blog for next year.

Category #6 - Final Thoughts

See how much fun you could be having?  So go, blog, now!