10 Years Blogging! - Show and Tell Friday

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10 Years of Blogging!

Welcome to Show and Tell Friday!  This week is a very special week for me. It's my 10 year blogging anniversary!   Sorry this is sort of a wordy post but 10 years deserves that!

When I started my blog on June 23, 2005 most people didn't even know what a blog was!  My very first post was of my living room and I cringe when I look at that photo now but I'll share it below just because I think I've come a long way baby! 

I was actually so excited when I started my blog that I did 3 posts in one night! haha

I always loved decorating so after getting hooked on reading knitting blogs I decided to start my very own blog and it was going to be a combination of things I loved...knitting, home decor, baking and flowers.  Well, I think I only shared 1 knitting project and that still isn't finished after all these years!  

I'm not certain but I'm pretty sure I had the very first home decor blog around. I could be wrong but I haven't seen any others that started prior to June 2005! (please correct me if I'm wrong)

 I didn't post much in the beginning because no one was reading it and it felt very self-absorbed to be writing about myself as if I were sharing things with the world and yet no one was visiting.  It wasn't too much longer after that that some other home decor blogs starting popping up. Back then it was a very small community and we all got to know each other and that was a very special time in my life. It was so nice to connect with other women (and a couple men) that had the same interests as me! I know some of you are still around and some of you even left and came back to blogging.  You all know who you are and I apologize for not visiting as much as I used to. I'm sort of a bad blogger that way now but I wasn't years ago.  The truth is my life is so much busier now with work, going to the gym and spending more time with friends. I was at a time in my life back then when my daughter was young and I was divorced and had her full time. I didn't date when she was between 8 and 18 because I didn't want her memory of her childhood to be of her mom bringing different men around so I just stayed home with her. This blog and decorating was my love life! ha!  It was the perfect distraction for me.  Now I date (off and on) and I go out a lot with my girlfriends. My daughter is now 22 and still lives at home but she's hardly home! It's hard to believe she was only 12 when I started this blog!

For years I did 5 posts a week! I don't know how I did it! It exhausts me just to think about it but I was loving every minute of it at the time.  I only post once a week now and I'm so thankful that so many of you come by each week...week after week!  It's really hard to think of new content after 10 years!  I've had some rude comments telling me I should give it up and that I'm only doing it for the money. If that were the case I would still be blogging 5 days a week because I was making a lot more money through ads when I was blogging more often. The fact is, this has become like a child to me and I just can't give it up...I've thought about it but it makes me really sad just thinking about it.

To wrap this up I just want to say that when I started this little blog I had no idea so many wonderful things would come my way because of it!  So many "pinch me, I must be dreaming" moments!  Being in Romantic Homes Magazine back in 2010 was just a dream come true! Being featured on the front page of the Home and Garden section of my hometown newspaper The San Jose Mercury News on Valentine's Day 2010.  Being on HGTV's Rate My Space TV show (ugh, I was about 80 lbs heavier back then and I can't even watch that video without wondering why I let myself get like that)!  Being in Women's Day Magazine!  Romantic Country Magazine! An Italian magazine and a Malaysia newspapers both of which I heard of but never actually saw. Being interviewed on the radio!  I honestly don't say this to brag, I still don't believe this all happened to me!  If you've ever seen the movie "Sliding Doors" this part of my life sort of reminds me of that.  The movie is about how if you do one thing different in your life, how if you take a different path how your life can be so different.  Had I not started this blog none of these wonderful things would have happened.  Had I not started this blog I would have never known that there are so many of you out there that love home as much as I do!  I thank you from the bottom of my heart for stopping by and being my "friends" week after week, month after month, year after year and now into the next decade! It's really quite amazing! My longest marriage (yes two divorces) was 9 1/2 years and my blog has lasted longer than that! ha!

Ok, I'll end this now but as I promised....here is the photos from my very first posts.... 

My very first post photo (makes me cringe now)

My 2nd post was a drawing I did (I never draw anymore but at the time dreamed of doing more of it and getting really good at it)

I think in this next decade I will draw more and finish knitting that scarf!

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Thanks to all of you that join in on Show and Tell Friday every week and thanks to all of you who leave such nice comments! 

 If you are joining in on Show and Tell Friday, please remember that your Show and Tell needs to be something from your home or garden. If you would like to join in, please enter your name and leave your exact Show and Tell blog post link, not just your blog link and as a common courtesy link back to my blog.