Blogiversary Take 2

Welcome back to my blogiversary party!

 (Image found via Google Images, made by Jen Gets Fancy).
I couldn't cram everything from the last two years into two posts so I made into two- one for each year my blog has existed! I got a little more sappy in the last post, so I'm trying to make this one a little lighter. I thought I would play a little numbers game with some fun facts about my blog over the last couple years:

• 181: Posts I have published in the last two years. 
• 38: Posts that were published since my 1st blogiversary last year (side note, I know this number is really low. After my sister was diagnosed, it took me awhile to come to terms with the fact that it was okay to go on with my life as normal, and that meant blogging about stuff non-cancer related. That is why that number is so low).
• 1646: Comments I have received (thank you to my blog friends and loyal commenters! I love hearing hearing from you, it very often makes my day!)
• 244: The most visitors I have ever had in one day. It was Thanksgiving Day 2008. Like I said last year, I have no idea why people were reading my blog on Thanksgiving, but I'll take it! 
• 201: The second most visitors in one day. It was December 26 of this year.
• 23,043: Total visitors that have stopped by this blog since the beginning!
• 2,790: Visitors that have came to my blog directly (according to Google Analytics). 
• 127: Google Followers my blog has! That is amazing! Thank you all!! 
• 78: Facebook fans! Thank you! :)

Some other non-number fun facts:

• The number one term people search to get to my blog is "dangers of beer pong" (same as last year). One of my favorite posts, a humorous outlook on injuring yourself during a game of beer pong!
• The weirdest thing people have searched to get to my blog? "Women flashing on roller coasters" I have no idea what this has to with my blog... I swear I've never done that! Other weird ones include "fat girl kissing skinny girl", "mckmama moocher" "but you don't understand, osgood. uh, i'm a man. well, nobody's perfect!"
• My most viewed post ever is this Top 5 Tuesday post about shopping. It has 764 views... crazy!
• My top viewed post in the past year since my 1st blogiversary is Dangers of Beer Pong of course! Even though that post was up before my blogiversary last year, it was still the most popular since then!
• This was a year of firsts, as well: I participated in 1st blog swap with the fabulous Caroline! And I wrote my 1st guest post at Winey Mommy's blog! 

Well, that about it wraps it up! This year my blog has changed a lot and it will continue to change (hopefully for the better) as the years go on. Thank you to everyone who has seen me through this journey!

My one request (I know, I'm always demanding things)- I have so many followers I don't know, but I really want to "meet"! Please introduce yourself! That is all... I hope you all have enjoyed my blogiversary party!

2 Year Blogiversary!

June 22, 2008. That is the day of my very first blog post, the day Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman (the blog) was born. Two years later, here it is, still alive and kicking. I thought a lot about how to celebrate this blogiverasry. I mean, two years, that's kind of a big deal, right?! So I wanted to give a proper celebration.

Some people, I know, do giveaways for their blogiversary, but in two years this blog has never had a single giveaway so I'm not about to start now! I didn't want to re-cap the year(s) because, well, if you've been reading, you already know it all.

I thought a lot about what "good" bloggers would do. A "good" blogger would have some big celebration planned maybe link to a few blogs. Definitely make you laugh. They would definitely not wait until 9:00 the day of their blogiversary to publish their post. But then I came to my senses got over it and realized, (warning, I'm getting deep here) I am me. Just me. I'm not a queen blogger, I'm not a blog celebrity  (or any kind of celebrity) or anything, and that's ok. Because all I can be is my version of greatness, and if I'm not a "good" blogger by some standards, well oh well.

Ok, off my soapbox now. This blog sure has changed since the early days. I like to think that my blog grows as I grow. As I mature, my blog matures. This past year, my blog changed in a way I never anticipated that it would. When my sister was diagnosed with cancer in the fall, this became my outlet to process what I was feeling. I am so thankful I had this forum to express myself and on top of that, I had all of you, people who I wouldn't have "known" otherwise, praying for her! And that makes it all worth it! :)

So without being cliche, I just wanna say two years ago I had no idea what blogging could be! I just wanted to journal the transition from high school to college, and I did that but also so mcuh more! Thank you to those of you who read this blog, my bloggy friends, because you all inspire me with your creativity, and your kindness overwhelms me. (sorry, I didn't mean to get so sappy!)

Since it is a two year anniversary, I'm gonna spread this out over a couple days. This is installment one, installment two will be a little lighter since this was so sappy!!

Now, I am throwing myself a party here on my blog in honor of my blogiversary. And any good party has a guest book right?! So in honor of my blogiversary, I would like my followers and readers to comment, therefore signing the "guestbook". I am toying with some ideas for the 2nd installment of this blogiversary to get my blog friends to get to know each other, so make sure you come back and check that out!

Thank you for following me through my blog journey! I sure have come a long way since day 1...

(Year 1 blogiversary)

Happy Blogviersary to Me!!!

It's my Blogiversary! My 1st ever blogiversary!! It is official... as of today, I have been blogging for exactly one year! I thought long and hard about how to celebrate this event. I know some people do giveaways for their blogiversary, or re-cap your favorite posts from the year. However, when I think about when and why I started blogging, and the fact that it's been a whole year, there are a lot of things to reflect on! I have definitely come a long way from my first post! In some ways, everything has changed, but in some ways nothing has changed at all. It really has been one of the most life changing years so far, I think, which is why it was the perfect time to start my blog a year ago! I started this blog in hopes of journaling the transition from high school to college, and all the changes that come with that. While I have been able to do that, it quickly became so much more than that. This is not only my journal, but my creative outlet, a place to just be completely honest, a place where I'm funny (well, at least I am sometimes & I have said it before, but I really don't think I'm funny IRL), and best of all, this is a community of friends! A year ago today, did I ever think I would utter the words "my blog friends" or "my twitter friends" (which in some cases are the same people, but you get the point!)? Never! But I have, and I do! I find myself thinking about all of you, my blog friends, all the time & wondering how you're doing & looking forward to reading what you're up to! So, thank you, thank you, thank you, to those of you that come here & read my ramblings & leave comments & support me! It has been a crazy year... a year ago today, I had no idea what the future held for me, and a year later, while a lot of what was unknown then is known now, there is still so much unknown! But no matter what happens, I will be here, chronicling it! Just for fun... here are some random facts about my blog over the past year: (Via Google Analytics)

• I have posted 149 posts (not including this one) with a total of 1,249 comments and 13,409 visits.
• My first post was (obviously) a year ago today, and Jen E was my very 1st commenter!
• My biggest traffic day was November 25 (which I find very odd because why were people reading my blog on Thanksgiving and not with their families? I didn't even post that day!)
• My "most viewed" post is this Top 5 Tuesday post (again, weird, but ok!)
• 76% of my traffic comes from referring sites, so thank you to my blog friends who link up to me! :)
• The number one keyword people google and get to my blog? Beer pong dangers! One of my favorite posts!
• The majority of people that come to my blog are from the U.S., the second most people are from Canada!

So, for my blogiversary present (What?! I can't get presents for my blogiversary!? Well, let's pretend!), all I ask is this if you read my blog... I want to know why, and I know there are some of you out there that I don't know... I try to keep up with my "followers" but I haven't been doing a great job lately, so if you follow me or are just a lurker & haven't said hello, for my blogiversary will you say hi!? I want to be friends! :) So here's to a year of big changes, most of which are chronicled here, and to at least another year of friend making, blogging & more changes!

RTT: Apparently the Only Post I'm Capable Of!

I sure am glad that Keely at the UnMom hosts Random Tuesday Thoughts every week, because apparently it's the only post I'm capable of writing! In case you haven't noticed, the last time I posted was a week ago... my random tuesday thoughts, what else!? Now we are a week later with more random thoughts and no other random coherent posts! I do have a valid excuse for not blogging, though, so don't be too hard on me! I'm not being a slacker (well maybe a tiny bit of a slacker). Remember how I mentioned I started summer school? Yeah well that's pretty much my life these days. Except Saturday's. Saturday's I get to pretend I can have a normal, relaxing summer. Oh well, hopefully it will all be worth it in the end, but that's why I haven't been blogging because I'm doing homework 24/7 (well close to that, if I'm not doing homework I'm in class or sleeping pretty much)! So that's where I've been. I do have a lot of posts that I want to write & I am going to make myself make time for blogging! (Yes, I know, school comes first! But I can take a break every once in awhile...) Plus, my blogiversary is coming up!!! It's a week from tomorrow! I can't believe it!!! I'm so excited that I've made it a whole year, and so much has changed in one year! I'm not sure how I'm going to celebrate, I was thinking of doing a Q & A post, because my friend Alyssa asked me a question about sorority life & was hoping I'd do a post on it & it got me thinking maybe some other's of you have random questions! But I'll probably just do that another time & not for my blogiversary. How did you celebrate your blogiversary?! Speaking of summer school I found a perk! I know, I was shocked too! So last week was insanely stressful & I was not feeling upbeat about life by the end of it (the week, not life)! So, my mom picked up on this, and in an attempt to make me feel better, she announced that she plans to spoil me while I'm in school! Um, okay! I'm not complaining! So this started with her calling me from the grocery store & asking if I drink Bud Light Lime. At 1st I was like umm... I'm not sure how to respond to that, is this a trick question?! Anyway, I said yeah (not only do I drink it I LOVE it!), and she said well, I bought you some!!! Then, the next day, she took me to get a mani/pedi! Then, this morning she brought me Starbucks & Chick-fil-A for breakfast! I am starting to like this whole school thing a little better... (well not really but I definitely don't mind the spoiling!) So my car is getting fixed! woo hoo! The insurance is covering almost all of it, so that's good news! And I'm driving my sisters car in the mean time, which I don't mind at all! To be honest, I really don't miss my car because I like driving hers so much! lol Why is everything good on TV all on Monday nights? Why can't they spread it out a little? Seriously I have so much to watch on Monday's! Greek, Jon & Kate Plus 8 (don't even get me started on that show... we have a love/hate relationship!), The Bachelorette & probably even more that I'm missing! Ugh! Thank goodness for TiVo! :) Anyway, I was up way too late watching TV last night because everything was on! geez! I have a lot of posts coming up over at College Lifestyles (my summer internship site!), so definitely check for those later in the week. In the mean time, you should just head over there anyway & read what everyone else is posting! My intern buddies are fabulous (& a little intimidating, they're so fabulous!), so there will be definitely be a lot of good stuff to read! I did the unthinkable in bookworld or whatever... I skipped ahead to the end! I know, I know!! I've never done that before, I sware! Especially with my Jodi Picoult books (I'm reading Picture Perfect by her) because of all her books I've read (& loved every single one!), the ending has always been the best part! But this time I couldn't take it anymore! I wanted to know what happens! I only read the last paragraph or so, but now that I know what happens, I'm not sure I wanna finish it! Not because I already know what happens, but because I don't think I like the ending! I would be more specific, but I don't wanna ruin for anyone! Anyway, that's probably enough rambling for one day... I have some homework to do now, story of my life! For more randomness, go see Keely at the Unmom, or even put together your own randomness in a post & go link up with her!