1st Blogiversary! Past, Present, and Future

One year ago today I wrote my very first blog post. Don't judge me. I didn't know anything about blogging at that point! 

You guys have been here through it all. Even when I tried to make bread for the first time and failed miserably.

And then when I got it right and made amazing bread!

It's been a long and wonderful road with a huge learning curve. But I really have enjoyed it all! Through joining blogging networks, connecting with other bloggers and even meeting a few of my fellow local bloggers! I had no idea what I was getting into when I started but now I couldn't even entertain the thought of quitting! 

I've now published a total of 211 posts! Wow. That's a lot of blogging! Here are some of the most popular/favorite posts. 

My MOST popular post was actually my husband's first post! His cardboard helmet tutorial got an astonishing 5,570 views! Halloween's coming up soon and this would be an awesome DIY costume for kids an adults alike. 

My second most popular post was my DIY pallet garden for under $20. It rounded out the year with 3,728 views which is still huge! 

The 3rd most popular post was my Magic Eraser toilet cleaner Pinterest fail and 4th popular was The Walking Dead workout! Is anyone as excited as I am that the next season is about to begin?!? 

My most popular Pinterest pin was the recipe for my homemade garden fresh salsa! 

Followed by my homemade no high-fructose-corn-syrup ketchup! Both of which are so delicious that you'll never buy those things from the store ever again! So if you haven't pinned them yet, go for it! 

I'll wait. 

If you want to follow me on Pinterest, just click HERE! 

What Happily Ever Crafter post is YOUR favorite? You can choose from the ones above or the archives on the right sidebar. 

It's really neat to look at my most popular posts and realize they're all totally different! 

Our anniversary trip to Williamsburg, Virginia

And finally...drumroll please! My total pageviews for my very first year of blogging...

39,463!!!

For you seasoned bloggers that may seem like chump change but I am blown away! My very first month I had only 180 pageviews. I guess that's decent considering I didn't tell anyone that I started a blog!

Every month has shown exponential growth and it's so cool to watch! I owe it all to you guys for liking, commenting and sharing my blog! I can't forget my incredible blog networks either, you can check those out on my sidebar. 

The future of this blog is completely unknown. I have goals but I don't know where exactly this blog will take me. Here are some of those goals for the next year of blogging.

1. Reach 1,000 views a day.
2. Reach 1,000 likes on Facebook (currently at 391!)
3. Schedule Facebook posts ahead of time.
4. Get back to consistently posting (good content) up to 5 days a week.
5. Write those posts ahead of time and schedule them. AKA "Get with the times, Catherine."
6. Cook and craft more for better posts.
7. Try more things from Pinterest and share about it!
8. Earn a little money through the blog and buy my own domain name (plus make the blog beautiful and functional!)
9. Connect with YOU better and attend blogging conferences (like this one I'm attending on October 26th!)
10. Be open to constructive criticism and change. 

So here's to the first of many years of blogging! 

If you haven't yet, be sure to check out the first post of the week and fill out my blogiversary poll! I want to get to know my lovely readers! 

Till next time,

Catherine

1st Blogiversary! Amazed and Confused

Wow it is incredible to think that it has been ONE YEAR since I began blogging! (Ok technically it's tomorrow.)

I never thought that my little blog would be where it is today. And I never thought I'd enjoy blogging as much as I do either!

Blogging has become this amazing journey of discovering my desire to write and share my thoughts with others, connect with people across the country (and world!) and learn more about myself in the process. It has inspired me to cook more, grow more, create more, adventure more, and overall live a better life.

Gracious, how did I even get here?

A drive to share my experiences with others and YOU.

The main thing that makes blogging incredible is YOU. My beautiful, sweet and smart readers! Ok and you fellas are handsome, caring and intelligent ;-) Can't leave out the guys!

Blogging would be pointless if it weren't for the readers. Whether you're simply looking for a delicious and healthy recipe or you're a die-hard blog reader or a blogger yourself, you're so important.

So to kick off my 1st blogiversary week, I want to say THANK YOU to my lovely readers and now, I want to learn a little more about you!

For fun I'll post my answers down below the poll! I look forward to reading your responses and I'll work on making fun graphs (did I just call graphs "fun"?) later in the week!

• I am in my 20s (25 to be precise).
• I am a lady.
• I am a veterinary receptionist.
• I rent a townhouse.
• I live in Virginia, USA.
• In my spare time I do all of the above except sing (I try, but fail) and shop.
• My life would not be complete without my spouse and my pets mostly.
• My least favorite social media site is a a 6-way tie. I like Facebook and that's about it.  Ok Pinterest is super addicting too.

Speaking of Facebook, have you "liked" my Facebook page yet? If not you can click HERE to do so!

You can also follow me on Pinterest HERE.

No question today, just fill out the poll if you have a moment, please and thank you!

Till next time,
Catherine

Williamsburg Anniversary Trip

So as you may know from last week's posts, my husband and I went to Williamsburg this past weekend to celebrate our one year wedding anniversary! We had a great time and can't wait to go back! 

When we arrived we walked down through Colonial Williamsburg. Here's my husband Brian photo bombing the Colonial Garden. They had all kinds of plants for sale...I wanted one of each! 

Garden photo! 

I love this little cottage and the way the front yard is landscaped! The houses are absolutely gorgeous there!

We ate at The Cheese Shop for a late lunch on Saturday and it was SO GOOD! I definitely recommend it. 

I had a turkey and provolone sandwich on wheat with house dressing and it was fabulous! They also have many cheeses for sale and unique treats as well as a huge wine cellar full of wines and beers. 

We breezed through The Candy Shop that's next door to The Cheese Shop but it was really crowded so we didn't stop and buy anything. Blessings in disguise! 

Here Brian decided to give T.J. a few pointers on a document he was working on. I think he's taking them into consideration. 

While we did see a lot of "Made in the USA" signs and stickers, I also saw way too much of this. There were so many things for sale that were supposed to look authentic and really colonial, yet they were made in China, India or other countries. Sad. 

I freaked out like a little girl when I saw these two horses! Brian practically had to pry me away from them! Since living in Lynchburg, I haven't gotten to ride or be around horses hardly at all. I miss it so badly! 

We also walked around The Pottery which I had heard a lot about. Let me tell you...the name is deceiving! I was thinking The Pottery was a cool place where they made pottery in front of you, sold freshly made pottery of all shapes and sizes and maybe you can even paint some pottery. Far, far from the truth. If you haven't been, it's basically one huge store divided into three buildings. One for kitchen wares and food, one for home decor, and one for outdoor items. I was disappointed because even though it was kind of a neat place, the prices were expensive. They had a large natural/organic/unique section of food and a huge wine section if you're into those sort of things. I even happened to see wine from a vineyard in Louisa County, Virginia which is where my extended family is from! If you don't know where Louisa is, just remember it's where the epicenter of the 2011 East Coast Earthquake was. 

After a disappointing dinner on Friday at a place called Daddyo's (Yelp reviewers had given it great reviews!), we stopped by Handel's Homemade Ice Cream and Yogurt. 

Brian got a chocolate milkshake and I got cookie dough ice cream in a waffle cone. They don't play around! Look at that sucker! It was delicious too!

The Governor's Palace

Beautiful skies framing a brick house. 

I loved this side yard too with the stream running through the middle. 

If only we had somewhere to put it! These bird bottles are so cute! 

I loved hearing the clip-clop of the horses' hooves as they walked on by. We didn't take a horse drawn carriage ride, though. It's $20 a person for 15 minutes! Trust me, I know horses are expensive pets but holy moly that is so expensive. That's $40 for 15 minutes for two people. Rip off. 

And we also made a huge mistake by buying a pound and a half of homemade fudge!! As we walked out the door I said to Brian, "What...have...we...done??" The flavors are so amazing, though! In the box on the left it's blueberry cheesecake then Oreo. The top left in the other box is chocolate, caramel, and peanuts, and the one on the right is the Williamsburg Special which is caramel, chocolate chips, white chocolate fudge, then regular chocolate fudge. Bottom row is peanut buter chocolate and then peanut butter. 

Each morning we drove just into Yorktown (our hotel was in Newport News which enabled us to have dinner with some of our close friends who live in the Portsmouth area. We were SOO thrilled to see them and we had a blast talking and laughing over dinner.) and ate at this breakfast/lunch place called Food Craft. We ordered breakfast both times and it was so incredibly delicious! The fried potatoes weren't greasy and they were so tasty! The biscuits and gravy were incredible too. It was so good that we're already trying to find excuses to go down there again! 

And finally, we came home to about 4-5" of snow! Fortunately we beat some of the snow but did end up driving in it for about an hour. It wasn't too bad, though. Glad it's all about melted now! Bring on Spring time!! But Summer...you take your time.

Thank you to everyone who recommended Williamsburg adventures! We want to go back soon and see/do it all!

Have you been to Williamsburg? What's your favorite thing to do/see?

Till next time,

Catherine

Anniversary Trip!

So this week is exciting for me...my 1 year wedding anniversary is coming up on Sunday!!! It's hard to believe it's almost been an entire year already! We've loved each and every second of it!

Except the bills...bills suck.

I'm super excited because we're going to Williamsburg, Virginia for a little anniversary weekend getaway! Any suggestions for places to go or things to do? I'd love to hear your suggestions! I haven't been since I was a kid in school so I don't hardly remember it! I'm really hoping for good weather so we can get out and see it all.

Also, what's your take on the anniversary year gifts? For 1 year the traditional gift is paper and the modern ones are clocks, plastic, and gold jewelry. Even if it's kind of silly I think it might be fun to do. Except what in the world can I give as a gift that's paper?? Help!

Guess I should have thought of this when I had more than a week to plan! Oops!

Send me your best-kept Williamsburg secrets! I want to hear your favorite things to do on an anniversary and don't forget the paper gift suggestions!

Till next time,
Catherine