Happy Bloggy Birthday to Me!

So February is definitely birthday season in our house — Simon last week, Lucas this week, and my mom a couple of weeks from tomorrow. But there’s another birthday squeezed in there — SEVEN years ago last week I wrote my first blog post. Who could have ever guessed where it would lead? I can’t even begin to enumerate all the great things that have happened in my life due to this crazy little blog, but who would have guessed it would have lead to a career in social media and a part-time photography business? Those are no small potatoes!

A few of you have been here from the very beginning, when the blog lived on blogspot and the wayback machine says blog looked like this:

(I don’t miss that design, but it was fun to see my little footprints I loved so much back then!)

If you joined the party a little later, you might remember this design:

I’d almost forgotten about the crayons! And funny, that was my ‘look’ for two years. Tempus fugit, eh?

Speaking of fugiting tempuses, I try to update this “time traveller” meme every couple of years, just because it’s fun to look back and see what a lousy prognosticator I am.

15 years ago today I would have been:

  • Living in sin with Beloved in our tiny two-bedroom attic apartment in the Glebe.
  • About a year away from finishing my degree.
  • Driving an antiquated but dearly loved little black Mazda 323 hatchback everywhere
  • .

10 years ago today I would have been:

  • Fatly, blissfully pregnant and already on my maternity leave in anticipation of Tristan’s arrival one month hence.
  • Fresh from an assignment with Industry Canada, my first official job in communications with the government.
  • Busy teaching myself HTML and building our first family website on Geocities.

5 years ago today I would have been:

  • Trying very hard to get over the loss of one pregnancy and just a few months shy of discovering another.
  • Just about to find out that I would be creating a social media team for the CRA.
  • Blogging about dead iPods and stomach viruses and the search for decent daycare
  • .

1 year ago today I would have been:

  • Working with the Army and becoming increasingly unhappy.
  • Turning my toe anxiously in the carpet as I tried to decide if I was “good enough” to officially try to sell myself as a family and portrait photographer.
  • Blogging about photography and Ottawa and our quirky home in Manotick
  • .

This year I am:

  • So very happy to be back with the CRA where I belong, and extremely happy to be leading the social media team. Again! 🙂
  • Still a little overwhelmed by the success of the whole photography thing — did I tell you I got FIVE bookings this week? That’s almost a third of all the jobs I did in all of 2011!!
  • In shock that Lucas — my baby! — is off to junior kindergarten later this year
  • .

Today I:

  • Feel like I’ve got the world by the tail.
  • Am toying with the idea of a blog redesign.
  • Would like to lose about 10 lbs before summer
  • .

Next year I hope:

  • To continue to grow all facets of the photography business.
  • To be planning a vacation for somewhere that involves an ocean.
  • To get back to blogging more like I used to back in the day
  • .

In five years I hope:

  • To be within a decade of (gasp!) retirement.
  • To stop being freaked out by the idea of being within a decade of retirement.
  • To have all three boys in school full time (gasp! with one in high school!) and free of the daycare dilemma forever!

(You know what I learn from doing this meme every couple of years? I am really good at setting and pursuing short-term goals, but I continue to be a lousy
at making any sort of long-term plan. ENFP anyone?)

This is a fun meme, and it’s fun to look back on where I’ve been and how far off my expectations and ambitions have been! And hey, can you believe I’ve been doing this for SEVEN YEARS?!?

🙂

Author: DaniGirl

Canadian. storyteller, photographer, mom to 3. Professional dilettante.

4 thoughts on “Happy Bloggy Birthday to Me!”

  1. I haven’t been with you since day one, but pretty darn close! (Once upon a time I remember making a memo pad with those adorable footprints!)

    Happy blogiversary!

  2. What a milestone to have achieved! Congratulations Dani. Continued success with your writing, your photography and achieving your goals.

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