My little blog turned three this week – a chubby toddler running around curious and uninhibited! A big thanks to all of you for your interest and support! I truly appreciate your visits and love our comment chats!
To celebrate this milestone, as I’ve done the two previous times, I’m going to recap the past blogging year (February to January) in a gallery and highlight some links. I didn’t do this when 2017 ended because I was saving my recap for this very occasion.
A photo from each blogging month
Two of my favorite posts from the past blogging year were:
and a travel photo post about Estancia Harberton.
I was planning on doing a sequel with the rest of my Harberton photos, but almost a year has gone by and it’s still a draft – where did the time go?!
Of course, I also did photo posts…
…participated in WPC challenges…
If you’re into statistics, This Is Travel was my best performing post based on likes. But it’s not one of my personal favorites at all! Written in about 2 minutes, as opposed to some posts which I edit and re-edit for months, this post must’ve been shared somewhere good because of all the extra traffic it received. But, unfortunately, I never got a pingback or other indication of where that might have been, so I have no idea.
I’m always thrilled to see shares in my stats (not that I look at my stats very often – less and less, actually), but I always wonder who shared it and what kind of response it got. I’m not on Facebook, for example, but I see Facebook shares all the time. Who knows where our posts and photos end up!
The post that got the most comments was the one where I told you that I was having twins and I want to thank you all for your wonderful, lovely responses and wishes! This is exactly why I love blogging, this is such a nice community! I’m reminded that most people on this planet are lovely, caring human beings who just want peace and friendship across borders.
Obviously, this past blogging year my life completely changed since I had the babies. I didn’t travel at all, and I have been posting a bit less. Still, I feel like I post too often and would like to learn to direct my focus onto quality rather than quantity.
As for the future, the blog’s content will also evolve, like life, and slowly take on new directions. Luckily I’m not on any kind of schedule – I’ll just go with the flow.
While I was writing this, I noticed that in last year’s recap post, I forgot to mention two posts I enjoyed writing – can you believe I am remembering to mention them now, a year later? Amazing how the memory works. If you have some extra time (and who doesn’t – just kidding!), pop over and have a read:
Blinking Lights of Tokyo
Wandering Around Tokyo
And…
A “real-life” friend of mine recently said to me, in an amused voice: “Oh, so you’re still into that blogging thing?”
Of course I am – this is my hobby now, an outlet for my creativity and a way to practice writing… and maybe one day improve my photography. I don’t do this because it’s a chore or because I want to achieve something specific. It’s a way of relaxing and collecting my thoughts. I do it when other people would watch TV, I guess. I can’t really concentrate on TV shows anymore, my mind keeps wandering too much.
And I’m so happy to have found other bloggers who share some of my thoughts and understand what the point is to this whole “blogging thing”.
Having recently had babies means I spend a lot of time at home and it fits well with blogging. When the weather gets better, we’ll be spending more time outdoors, but for now, I blog when I have a moment during the babies’ naps if the chores are done, or during the evenings once they’ve gone to sleep. Just because I have babies now doesn’t mean that I’ve completely lost interest in everything I used to enjoy doing before. I’m still the same person – just more, now.
When my family moved to Finland from Australia some thirty years ago, I was almost nine and I missed my Australian friends. So we wrote letters. Long letters, sometimes up to 30 pages with text on both sides, and we wrote lots of them! Sometimes we sent tape recordings where we chatted away and once I even received a video cassette – oh that was so modern and cool! I treasured it. This lasted all through my teen years until email came into our lives and we got lazy.
Throughout those years, I somehow ended up corresponding with other kids my age all around the world. Kids I didn’t know, but we exchanged photos. The only one I ever met up with in real life was an Italian girl and, amazingly, we are still in contact occasionally – not often, but still. She used to make her own envelopes in a very creative way, using colorful pages from magazines. I remember one envelope had a Benetton ad which was very beautiful. She also drew different types of smileys on her letters, way before anyone ever thought of calling them emojis!
At some point there were these little friendship books that were passed along with our regular letters. You made them yourself and filled in the first page. Then everyone who received it would fill in another page and when it was full, you’d return it to its maker. On your little page you wrote whatever you wanted, usually telling what you liked doing in life, what music you were into, and if you wanted new penpals you could leave your address and some of the people reading it later on might write to you.
It probably wasn’t a very cool thing to be doing back then! But I loved it. I chatted away with kids from all over the world and it felt so natural. In retrospect, we were just ahead of our time with our own little profile pages, international chatting, and emojis!
Knowing this, you won’t have to wonder whether I’m still into this blogging thing. It’s in my blood. I’ve been doing this all my life!
I don’t know what the world will be like when my babies are grown up, whether WordPress will still exist (probably not), but maybe, just maybe they will somehow find and read these posts one day and get to know me from another point of view. (If you’re reading this in the future, hello boys!)
Thanks for visiting! Here’s to the next blogging year – let’s stay in touch!
111 replies on “My Blog Turned Three”
Congratulations on reaching the three year mark!! It is always interesting to see which post resonates the most with people. Quite often it’s not the one that I expect it to be either!
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Thanks Amy! Funny, isn’t it? Though I think in my case it was one of those posts that people just clicked “like” on for some reason without giving it much thought! It really wasn’t that special! 😀 hahah. Have a fun week!
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Happy anniversary!
I have nominated you for the Entertainer Blogger Award because I enjoy reading your posts. Check out my latest post on this award.
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Thanks so much! 🙂 I’d love to check out your post, award posts are always entertaining (pun intended!)
I won’t be participating though because I don’t do awards, but I really do appreciate that thought! Thank you again! 🙂
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You are welcome!
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Happy anniversary! 🙂 the blogging thing is a great creative outlet and it’s admirable you are so consistent (three years, yey!) and full of so much drive and inspiration to share with us ♥
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Thanks Alexandra!! 😀 Inspiration comes and goes! Right now I’m pretty tired of my existing photos (which is why I’ve done some written posts lately) and I can’t wait for better weather to get into photography again. I need to do something new! 🙂
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I’m sure when you have the opportunity you will take new amazing shots… just enjoy your winter now ♥
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Oh you have been doing it for ages haven’t you! 😃 Lucky us! Happy anniversary .. wonderful images!
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Thank you, Julie! 🙂 I love it when you visit!
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Happy Blog Anniversary 😀
Stunning amazing shots ❤
Still waiting for your next blogging thing!
Big hugs!
Sid
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Hahah, thanks Sid! 🙂 Hugs all the way to Italy xx
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😀
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Happy blogoversary, Snow! Lovely as ever and wishing you always more fun doing so!
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Thanks, Julie! ❤ The fun thing is, there are so many ways to go – which way next?! 🙂 xx
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Probably the one that feels more natural to you (ditto to me) 😉
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Happy bloganiversary and may you celebrate a lot more years to come. Looking forward to reading more of your astonishing stories!
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Thanks Agness, that’s so sweet of you! I’ve enjoyed reading your blog every now and then – I can’t follow (I only follow thru WP Reader and yours cannot be found there) and I’m too lazy to sign in to comment, but I’ve enjoyed your posts!
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Happy Blog Anniversary. I’m a novice. Your photos & content are spectacular & inspiring. Thank you 😊
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Well thank you for the kind words!! Good luck blogging and I do hope you enjoy it as much as I have! 🙂
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I just found your blog and I like it a lot! There aren’t so many people writing in English about life in Finland.
I also started blogging (www.jennikatjawellness.com) and for me as well it is a way of relaxing 🙂 and also I love to share my tips about how to live a healthy life because I’m obsessed about it 🙂
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Thanks Jennikatja and welcome onboard! 😀 My goal was never to blog about Finland but since I’ve been spending more and more time here, that’s what’s suddenly happened! I guess it’s good that the blog evolves… Good luck with your blog, hope you enjoy it! I just read your newest post but I’m so lazy when it comes to commenting outside of WordPress – good stuff, nice post! Keep blogging! Hope to see you here again! 🙂
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Thank you! All the best to you!
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happy 3 years of blogging
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Thanks! 🙂
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I just love how you photograph those images. Anyhow, Congratulations and belated happy Blogoversary. Looking forward to more of your travels and photos. Please keep on sharing.
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Thank you, Rose! 🙂 Thanks for visiting my blog, do come again!
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3 years! nice work. Its also good to see your blog is evolving and changing as your life does. Great job raising twins as well, I have a 2 year old and he is a handful enough
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Hahah! Yes, our twins just turned one and it’s getting more and more hectic! 😀 They have so much energy!! Thanks for dropping by!
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No worries! I enjoyed the read
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[…] have my own little blogoversary tradition of creating a photo gallery with 12 photos, posted each month of the past year, and I’m not […]
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