One Whole Year!!!

Today marks my blog's 1st Birthday!  I've been writing about my new experiences for a full 365 days.  I can't believe it.  I have 168 posts under my belt.  That's 168 new things that I did in the past 12 months.

When I started my blog I thought it would be a huge undertaking and a challenge for me every day.  It became just the opposite.  My habits have changed when I cook, I now take pictures as much as possible mid-recipe.  I enjoy new restaurants far more than I ever thought I would.  I love to share my personal thoughts and learnings with total strangers.

168 new things in 365 days.  My goal was to do one new thing everyday.  You can see by the number of posts that I didn't exactly hit that goal, but I was pretty close.  Some of my new things weren't just a one-day event.  I visited new cities, I learned to ski, I started a new book series.  If I take into account the number of things I did that took multiple days, I'm well over 200 days of new things.  Not so bad.  Some of my posts would recap an entire weekend, too.  I'm in no way discouraged with only 168 posts.

I'm lucky to have been able to share my experiences with so many people.  Nearly 3,000 visitors have checked out the blog from 10 different countries.  Some are coming to the blog based on some of the photos I've taken, others for restaurant reviews, some for movie reviews and others are close friends and family.  I'm pretty lucky.

Since February 1, 2011 I've learned to ski, seen 3 of my closest friends walk down the aisle, I've met the man of my dreams, moved into a new neighborhood, became a gun owner (not related to the move!  The gun came before the move was even discussed), I've taken on new roles in the office and I've found new restaurants all over the city that I love.  And that's the tip of the iceberg.   I've learned to cook so many new dishes and learned a lot about myself along the way.  Who knew I loved to craft as much as I do?!

While I achieved so many things, I also didn't do some of the things I had wanted to.  I didn't read Gone With The Wind, I didn't get a bikini wax, I didn't take an international trip.  But I'm not discouraged.  I still have the rest of my life ahead of me.  I'm going to keep blogging and keep trying new things to share with readers.

Cheers to another 12 months!  Thanks for reading.